


Father Knows Best

by American_Punk_1990



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Single Father Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:29:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 51,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8564095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/American_Punk_1990/pseuds/American_Punk_1990
Summary: Ben Solo is doing all he can to be the best single father that he can but he is in desperate need for a good baby sitter. Rey needs a new job and the absurdly tall, kind of goofy looking guy with the world's cutest baby seems to have a perfect solution. Basically, a fanfic for other people who are super into a Single Father AU where Ben needs help and Rey is actually pretty good at this whole "mothering" thing





	1. Chapter 1

“I don’t want her.”

Ben could hardly hear her; didn’t register the words she had said. The rushing in his ears was louder than ever as he cradled the tiny bundle closer to him and stared at her perfect little face. She had the most darling rosebud mouth and, fortunately, not his nose. He cooed at her softly as she gurgled contentedly, wriggling gently in his arms. A sharp, thin voice finally broke through his reverie.

“Ben!” 

He looked away from his daughter to the exhausted woman in the bed next to him. “I’m sorry, what?” his eyes darted back to the child in his arms. She was squirming, her face reddening and the tiny mouth opening in a shriek. He gently held her to his chest and bounced softly, trying to soothe away her temper.

“I don’t want her.”

His eyes focused again on the woman in the bed. Her jaw was set firmly and her eyes were narrowed. His heart seemed to stutter for a moment. 

“What?”

“I don’t want the damn baby,” she said, heatedly. He just stared at her. “I also didn’t put you down as the father yet.”

His daughter was huffing wetly, her cries silenced for now. He gently laid her in the hospital bassinet.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I don’t want the thing. I’m also saying that I’ll put you down as the father and sign my rights to her away completely, but I want compensation. If I don’t get it, I’ll put her up for adoption.”

His knees felt like they were going to buckle for a moment and he considered taking a seat, but ultimately chose to continue standing in the hopes that she wouldn’t see how the idea of losing his daughter frightened him. 

“I’ll fight you on that. A cheek swab and a trip to court is all it will take to get full custody.”

“If you try to take me to court,” she returned, “I’ll keep her and tell the judge that I fear for our lives and that I want you to be barred from seeing her. You can fight it as much as you want, but you have a criminal history. I’ll win and you’ll never see her again.”

Ben clenched his fists. “That was over ten years ago. I haven’t had a spot on my record since then. My family has a lot more money than you. I’ll hire a good lawyer and I’ll win.”

Her feline grin stretched across her face. “Are you sure about that? Sure enough to stake your daughter on it? You could hire a fantastic lawyer and still lose. And you’ll be out the money for the lawyer and you won’t get to see her ever again. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”

He looked at his daughter, asleep in the bassinet, her tiny, pink face soft and calm. “No.”

“Good answer. Now we can negotiate.”

Babies, Ben quickly realized, were difficult to deal with on your own. His mother moved into the guest room of his apartment after his first month alone with his daughter. Those first few weeks were incredibly draining and after a frantic 3 am phone call his mother had calmly informed him that she was on her way. Two and half hours later she’d arrived with a suitcase full of clothing and a face like thunder. 

She’d been essentially living with him for the last three months and while he appreciated her help greatly, having her in his space had been tense, to say the least. She hadn’t approved of Cora’s mother and, while she never said ‘I told you so’, it was clear to him that she was thinking it. 

They also tended to butt heads often. His mother was strong willed and fierce and it was a trait Ben had inherited from her which meant that they were at each other’s throats for the majority of his minority, culminating in his desperate moving out at seventeen and over ten years of relative radio silence. It was only upon discovering that he was going to have a child that Ben reached out to his own parents. While he and his mother no longer quarreled constantly, they still had their fair share of disagreements. 

“This apartment is entirely unsuitable for a child, Ben,” his mother asserted one day while Ben was walking Cora around in circles, trying to ease her crying. She was constantly trying to chew on all her toys and stuffed animals and crying and Ben knew from the dozens of baby books he’d consumed upon finding himself a single father that she was teething. 

He glanced around and had to agree that his mom correct in this instance. His place was all marble and glass and metal. It was beautiful and modern and sleek, but it was precisely the type of home that gave parents of small children fits. 

Leia, tired of hearing Cora shrieking, stalked to her son and gently removed her from his grip, settling the little baby against her hip and bouncing her up and down on her way to the kitchen. She opened the freezer and removed a frozen teething ring and put it to Cora’s mouth. The little girl gripped it and immediately began gnawing on it as though her life depended on it, her cries quieting into greedy sucking noises. Leia smiled down at her and Ben saw the same tenderness in her eyes that she had the first time she held her.

“I think it’s time to look for a new home for us,” Ben decided aloud. Leia didn’t look up from Cora but nodded, indicating that she’d heard her son. 

“I’d like to buy you a home,” Leia replied, casually. “Somewhere not too far from Han and me. You’re too far away now, but I don’t think either of us wants you right down the street either. Maybe around an hour away? Close enough that we can visit, not so close that you feel like we can just pop in unannounced any time we want.”  
Ben wasn’t surprised by his mother’s offer. She’d wanted to buy him his own home for a while now, not understanding why Ben would rent an apartment when she would happily set him up in his own place. He didn’t like the idea of being on the receiving end of so much charity, especially not after his mother had so recently paid Cora’s mother a healthy sum of money to get out of his life.

“I don’t know, Mom,” he sighed heavily. “Accepting that kind of gift from you seems like asking for too much.”

Leia looked up at her son then, annoyance flashing across her face. “You’re a good deal too much like your father, you know? Neither one of you are very good at accepting help until you have no other choice.” Leia stalked over to her son and gently laid Cora back into his arms before crossing her own and glaring up at her son. “Well, you have no other choice. She’ll start crawling before you know it and this place is a toddler death trap. I’m going to buy you a nice, new, sensible home with carpet and less sharp corners and wall to wall windows and then I’ll sleep easier at night knowing my granddaughter isn’t going to die the second she can get her sticky fingers into exposed light sockets.”

Ben ducked his head, both somehow shamed and irritated. Cora was managing to gnaw on her teething ring and grin up at him, spit bubbling around the pink icy toy. She was the prettiest baby and Ben was constantly torn between admiring her and trying to see more of himself than her mother in her. It was a lost cause, she looked just like her mother. 

“She deserves a safe home, Ben,” his mother coaxed.  
“Okay,” Ben agreed, still avidly watching Cora alternate between gumming and blowing spit bubbles. “Let’s find a place.”

 

Ben quickly came to appreciate the help that having little financial constraint was when it came to moving. Rather than having to pack all his furniture up and having to settle for a home that needing repair, his mother insisted that she fill the relatively new much more baby friendly home with new, kid safe furniture. He’d have never chosen most of the furniture himself, but he had to admit it gave his new home a comfortable, lived in feeling fresh out of the box. Cora loved her new surroundings. She especially enjoyed tummy time in the backyard on a blanket. 

His mother had gone back home two weeks ago and his parents had come by once since then. He’d nearly had a heart attack when his father had held Cora like a football and run her around the backyard, even if her squeals of delight indicated that she enjoyed the interaction.  
Ben had enjoyed the months of uninterrupted father time with his daughter, but he knew that those days were over. He’d quickly exhausted his savings and the thought of asking for a loan from his parents who had now exceeded any expectations he might have ever had was so undesirable as to be repugnant to him. He’d secured a skype interview the week before with a local business and had been quickly hired on as the accountant. He had only three more days with his daughter before he was going to have to go back to the real world. There was only one thing that he had yet to resolve. 

Childcare. 

Who the hell was he supposed to trust to watch his daughter while he worked? He didn’t know anyone in the area and he wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of a daycare. Even more worryingly, Cora had started to become scared around strangers, making any trip he made outside the house an almost guaranteed scream fest. 

Which was going to make the trip into the grocery store whose parking lot he just pulled into a fun adventure. Armed with her travel bassinet and half a dozen little distractions for her, he steeled himself, hoping that the store was relatively empty. His short list in hand, he hooked her bassinet into the cart and braced himself. 

The store was, thankfully, not too crowded and Ben was relieved to see that there were very few older women around. The grandmother types were the worst when it came to invading his and Cora’s personal space, insisting upon cooing into her face and offering up unsolicited advice when she took one look at their weathered faces and burst into tears. Ben walked briskly up and down the aisle, trying to grab all the items on his list in the quickest time possible, conscious that his daughter was growing fussy. 

He noticed the pretty brunette while he was trying to decide which bunch of asparagus to buy. She had her hair pulled out of her face in a trio of neat buns and was digging through the beaten brown leather bag in the top compartment of her grocery cart. He watched her out of the corner of his eye and when she triumphantly retrieved her phone he glanced away, mentally shaking himself for staring. 

He wandered to the fruit section and glanced at the apples, trying to decide between them and the plums that were on special. 

“I’d go for the plums, if I were you.”

He looked up. The pretty brunette wasn’t far from him, in front of said plums, produce bag in hand. 

“My friend works here. He says that they’re really great this week. And they’re on sale, which makes them even better.”

Her voice was very pretty, and carried with it a soft, lilting accent. “Thank you,” Ben replied. He took pushed his cart toward the plum display before taking a step away to grab some of the dark fruit.

“How old is she?” the brunette asked, smiling at Cora. Cora, Ben noticed was staring back at her, eyes wide.

“She’s not quite 6 months old,” Ben replied, carefully selecting a few plums and sliding them into the bag he held. “And she must like you a little. She usually screams when strangers get within a few feet of her.”

The woman grinned at him. “Smart girl. I do the same thing, so I guess I like her a little too.” She directed her attention to Cora again and cheerfully pulled a silly face. His daughter gurgled and then laughed. “Sorry. This is probably weird,” the woman set her bag of fruit into her cart and extended her hand. “I’m Rey.”

“I’m Ben” he replied, taking her hand and giving it a gentle shake. “And the girl you’ve got giggling there is named Cora.”

Rey released his hand and directed her attention at his daughter once more “Hi Cora!” Ben watched in surprise as his daughter reached out for Rey and gurgled while flexing her little hands. Ben reached in and picked her up. He wasn’t at all surprised when his daughter fussed a little, but he was shocked when Rey stuck out her tongue at her and crossed  
her eyes and his daughter squealed in delight, her sound of excitement echoing slightly in the relatively empty store. 

“She seems like a completely friendly kid,” Rey said, with a small laugh of delight all her own. 

Ben was amused. “Clearly she’s on her best behavior today. Normally this much interacting with a stranger will have her throwing a tantrum. She must like you.”

Rey’s smile widened. “She’s a great kid. She looks just like you.”

Ben laughed at that. “I don’t really see it,” he replied, “but thank you.”

“Well, she’s incredibly cute anyway.”

Cora, as if agreeing to the statement, starting babbling happily and Ben bounced her a little while he nodded. “I know I’m biased, but I definitely agree with that sentiment.” 

From behind them, there was a loud chirp and Rey glanced to her cart, a faint frown creasing her forehead. “Sorry, I’ve got to run! It was really nice meeting you though.”

Ben watched her as she started to leave, Cora making little distressed noises in his arms as she left. 

“Wait, Rey!” the girl paused just a few feet away and turned. “Are you free for babysitting ever?” She straightened slightly, tilting her head to the side. “She doesn’t really seem to take to many people, so when I find someone that doesn’t make her scream, I have to ask.”

“Actually,” Rey began “I’m free most days before 6. I go to school at night, but during the day I usually try to study and sometimes I fix cars and things like that, but if you need a babysitter when I’m free, I’d be happy to.”

“Let me give you my phone number,” Ben asserted quickly. “I know you’re busy now, but maybe sometime this weekend we could catch up and discuss it?”

Rey reached back into her battered brown bag and retrieved her phone, closing the space between them and offering her cell to him. With his free hand, he plugged his number in and handed the phone back to her. With a promise to call, she gave Cora another smile and a cheery wave goodbye and walked away.  
Ben put Cora back in her bassinet and finished his shopping quickly after. As he finished loading the groceries into his trunk, his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

_Is tomorrow at 1 good for you?_

Ben grinned at the message and replied that it worked for him and offered up his address.

_That’s not too far from me. I’ll see you tomorrow. :)_

Hopefully, Ben thought, he’d have the childcare settled tomorrow and he could stop dreading the transition back to working so much. The promise of having a major issue resolved, he decided, was the sole reason he felt so excited for tomorrow and it had nothing to do with a pretty girl with a blindingly bright smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben was starting to worry that today was not the best day to try to meet with a babysitter. Cora had been up half of the night crying from pain in her gums. Her first tooth was starting to poke through and it was obvious by her near constant screaming that she was very displeased by the new development. She’d managed to lean far enough forward in her high chair this morning to knock her breakfast blend of Greek yogurt, sweet potato puree, and oatmeal out of his hand and all over both himself and the floor. What he had assumed was a small amount of food turned out to be much more than expected when he had to try to clean the sticky mixture off the floor. He’d removed his shirt and thrown it in the sink to soak. 

Cora was fussing in the high chair and let out an angry, tired scream and Ben sighed and unstrapped her, cradling her to his chest and cooing to her while she squirmed and loudly cried. Ben very nearly started crying himself. He didn’t think he’d gotten more than two hours of sleep altogether between trying to soothe Cora back into sleep and trying to fall back to sleep himself. 

After nearly half an hour on him cradling her against his chest, gently rubbing her back until her cries deteriorated into little huffing breaths and hiccups. He continued to rock her until she finally, blissfully, drifted into sleep. He put her down in her crib and looked around her room. It looked like a tornado had swept through. He padded down the hallway into the living room and realized with dawning horror that it didn’t look much better and if he didn’t do something about it the first time someone other than his parents was coming over to his home, the place would look like a disaster area. It especially wasn’t a great first impression for the potential new babysitter and he didn’t want to scare her off before she even started. 

Glancing at the clock, he realized he didn’t have a lot of time to clean, get some food into Cora, get her bathed and dressed and into a state of somewhat calm before Rey came over. He looked down at himself, he was still shirtless and his pants had remnants of oatmeal he hadn’t seem splatter on them. Figuring there was no need to change quite yet if he was going to be cleaning, he got to work picking up the toys and books that were scattered about. 

It felt like Cora had only been asleep for a few minutes when she started screaming again, but, glancing at the clock, Ben saw it had been a couple hours. The house was much improved and he’d even managed to quietly straighten up Cora’s room while she was sleeping. He picked up his daughter and realized quickly that she needed a diaper change and that she was probably getting exceptionally hungry at this point. He changed her quickly and put her in her high chair for the second try at feeding her. 

She was much more obliging this time around, eating the proffered apple sauce with a gurgling enthusiasm that made him laugh. She grabbed at the spoon in his hands multiple times and whenever she succeeded in getting her hands in some of the mush, she greedily stuck her fingers in her mouth and sucked on them. After getting enough food in her that she started to lose interest, Ben gave her a quick bath and dressed her in leggings and a romper. She was laughing and bright eyed from her nap and bath and Ben knew that compared to her he probably looked like he was falling apart. He was unsure how he’d get a chance to bathe himself considering she’d just gotten up from a nap and he could just leave her somewhere. Glancing toward the clock again, he realized that he didn’t have the time to shower anyway and he decided that he should, at the very least, put a shirt on and some pants that didn’t have food on them. 

As he was putting Cora in her bouncer, there was a soft knock on the door. He was almost certain it was Rey and he still hadn’t put a damn shirt on. He didn’t want to make her stand on the porch while he ran to his bedroom so he stiffened his shoulder and strode to the door, checking through the peep hole to see that it was, indeed her and pulling it open. 

“Hey, come on in.”

Rey’s eyes widened slightly at his look of disarray before entering and he felt his cheeks get warm. 

“Let me guess,” she started cautiously, “Cora spit up on your shirt at an inconvenient moment and, rather than answering the door covered in baby vomit you took the shirt off, threw it somewhere and chose this as a more rational alternative?”

Ben stared for a moment and then started laughing. Cora’s little trilling giggle joined in. “Very close. She managed to throw yogurt at me.”

Rey smiled, “Do you want me to watch her while you change? You can take a shower too; I know how it feels to get food thrown on you. It just kind of makes you feel dirty even if it was just on your clothes.”

Ben’s heart leapt. “You wouldn’t mind if I took a quick shower?”

“It’s what I’m here for,” Rey responded. She made a quick, uncomfortable grimace. “I mean, I’m here to watch Cora for you. Not to be here while you shower.” 

Ben saw the heat rise in her face and he resisted the urge to laugh while simultaneously feeling better about his own embarrassment. 

“I’m just going to go sit with Cora,” Rey said, her cheeks still pink. “Go ahead and do what you need to do; I’ll wait.”

Ben gratefully took her up on her offer, showering as quickly as he could, trying not to think about the fact that there was a pretty girl in his house. As he was rubbing a towel against his hair, trying to dry it a little, he heard Cora shriek and he was filled with a sense of dread. In little more than the towel clutched around his hips, he ran out of his bedroom and down the hallway, fearing the worst. 

Rey was holding Cora in the air lifting her from about chest level to above her head while making whooshing sounds. The little girl shrieked again and this time, he heard her scream dissolve into laughter. Rey turned before he could slink back out of sight and he saw the bright, happy grin turn into a genuine, full laugh as she brought Cora back down and slid her into her jumper again. 

“I’m sorry,” she managed to choke out through her laughter. “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but, well, look at yourself!”

Ben didn’t have to look in the mirror to know half of his hair was plastered to his face and he probably looked more than a little ridiculous considering the towel he had grabbed to cover himself was not, in fact a bath sheet and stopped short of his knees. 

“I heard her scream and I was afraid…” Ben trailed off when he saw Rey’s face grow more serious. 

“I get it. You don’t know me and you’re having to trust me with the most important person in your life. I made a point to clear any plans I might have today so you can get to know me a little before you leave your daughter with me. So, maybe just get dressed in something a little larger than a wash cloth and we’ll talk.” Rey’s mouth twitched slightly, but otherwise remained serious and Ben felt more assured than before that this situation was going to work. 

Feeling infinitely better now that he was clean and, finally, fully dressed, Ben walked into the living room and took in the sight of Rey sitting on the floor next to the bouncer softly reading from one of the many children’s books to a fascinated, gently bouncing Cora who was alternating between looking at the book itself and staring up at Rey. He paused momentarily, a steady warmth filling him as he watched the scene play out. Rey looked up at him from the floor and cooed to Cora. 

“Look, it’s your dad, and he looks much less frantic this time.”

Ben tried valiantly to push down the feelings that cropped up at the domesticity of the moment, but when Rey laid the book down gently and picked his daughter up, it was like the bottom fell out his stomach. She stood easily and smiled. 

“So, what would you like to know about me?”

Fighting the urge to say ‘Everything’ Ben finished walking into the room, gesturing that he’d like to hold his daughter. Rey walked to him and handed Cora over and Ben felt again, the sense that this was something that he and Cora were missing out on. He took a seat, his long legs folding under him gratefully, as if they were ready to give out on their own. Rey sat a moment after him. 

Ben cleared his throat and Cora snuggled her face against his neck, sighing softly and closing her eyes. “Do you have experience with this type of thing?”

Rey nodded. “I took care of kids as young as Cora from about the time I was twelve up until around a year ago.”

“So you’ve babysat a lot before, then?” 

There was a half-smile on Rey’s face. “In a manner of speaking. I was in the foster care system and there was a pretty constant rotation of kids coming through the place I lived and my guardian wasn’t the best at taking care of them, so I filled in the considerable gaps.”

Ben couldn’t hide his surprise. “Oh…so, um, I guess you probably have more experience than most, then.” 

Rey nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, definitely. And this would be under considerably calmer and happier circumstances, which makes the whole situation a lot easier. Additionally, given she’s just one baby and there were often three or four kids ranging from Cora’s age to about seven that needed my help, I’d say that this will be a piece of cake for me.”

Ben was trying his best not to show the sympathy he was feeling about her offhand remarks. He could hardly handle Cora on his own now, so he couldn’t imagine being twelve and unofficially responsible for as many children as Rey had handled. 

“Don’t get like that,” Rey’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “It wasn’t that bad, really.”

Ben nodded and tried to think of other things to say. “Oh, well, I start work at 8:30 and so I’d need to leave around 8 and I probably wouldn’t be home until around 5:30, does that work for you?”

Rey smiled “My first class on Mondays and Wednesdays isn’t until 6:15 and Tuesdays and Thursdays they’re at 6:30, so that works out just fine.”

This was more comfortable territory for Ben. “What are you studying?”

“Right now,” Rey replied, “I’m taking electrical engineering classes. I’m good at fixing things and it seemed like a good fit for me. I like the classes a lot. What do you do?”

“This is going to sound incredibly boring, but I’m an accountant. I was, at one point, a CFO for a prominent company, but after Cora was born, I realized I needed to spend less time at work and that job was running around 60 hours a week. More than that if the quarterly numbers were due, so I left.” 

“That doesn’t sound boring. I like numbers, too. They’re pretty important if you want to be an engineer,” Rey intoned. “And I think it’s great that you took a new, lower stress job so you could spend more time with your daughter.” 

Ben felt warm. He didn’t want to admit how much the praise of this relative stranger made him feel good. He heard a gentle snoring in his ear and grinned. 

“I’ll be right back; I’m going to put Cora in bed.” He walked his daughter into her room and laid her down gently. It appeared her lack of sleep last night was catching up to her. He turned her baby monitor on again and gently stroked her head before closing the door quietly behind him. 

“Sorry about that,” Ben said, sitting himself down again. “We had a rough night last night. She’s teething and she was up for most of the night telling me how unhappy she is about it.”

Rey nodded understandingly. “It’s a rough time for them. When you’re in pain but you lack the ability to express how you’re feeling or what you need, all you can do is scream.”

“I hadn’t really thought of it that way. I just figured that she decided ‘If I’m miserable, you should be too’.”

Rey laughed again, softly. “So, I can start Monday, if you need me to.”

Ben stretched out a hand and she took it, shaking it firmly. He tried to focus on how small her hands were compared to his and not on how nice it felt to hold onto her hand even just for a handshake.


	3. Chapter 3

Sunday was a battle of wills. Cora was babbling more than usual and had a new game of grabbing Ben’s nose or hair whenever he held her and yanking as hard as she could. Ben made the mistake of pulling his hair back with an elastic and the next time he picked Cora up, her eyes went round and she gleefully grabbed his ears and pulled them so hard and with so much joy that Ben wasn’t entirely sure that she hadn’t been replaced with a replica baby whose evil intent was to inflict pain on him. 

Later, he hadn’t been paying attention and Cora managed to get ahold of his hand and pulled one of his fingers into her mouth and clamped down with her new little baby tooth. Ben resisted the urge to swear and managed to pull his hand back without making Cora cry. When she looked up at him with her large hazel eyes and grinned, his heart melted and he couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed with her. She was much less fussy about teething today, partially because he’d made sure to have an abundant supply of her frozen teething rings at hand, but also because, despite the many naps of the day before, she’d fallen asleep easily and slept the whole night.

So, on their last day before he had to go back to work spent it cuddling and reading to her, the guilt he felt over having to leave her tomorrow morning assuaged only partially by the knowledge that Rey seemed more than capable. After they’d discussed her qualifications and agreed on a weekly pay, she’d stuck around for another few hours, playing with Cora after she woke up from her nap and generally chatting with Ben until he felt secure with the idea of letting Rey look after his daughter. When she was still with him at 6, he’d offered to order pizza for dinner, but she’d politely declined, explaining that she needed to get home. He had walked her to her car, an older model sedan, and watched her go, contentment filling him. 

His thoughts kept wandering to Rey today while he was with his daughter. Cora had taken to Rey so naturally that it was baffling. Several times the day before, Cora erupted in giggles when Rey simply looked at her and Rey, charmed by his daughter, seem to laugh just as often. While Cora wasn’t an unfriendly child, Ben hadn’t had her around many people and she was unused to strangers approaching her. There was a lot of comfort in knowing that someone that Cora had become so quickly taken with was eager to spend time with her. 

Ben’s only real concern now were the troubling feelings he had already started to feel for Rey. Yesterday, as she was leaving, he asked her to text him to let him know she’d made it home safely and when his phone went off and he’d seen her name on it, his heart had leapt and he’d had a moment of shame when he realized what he was feeling. Ben was very nearly 30 years old and Rey was only 19. It was foolish to have feelings for a girl ten years his junior and the fact that she was his daughter’s babysitter made the whole situation feel…predatory. 

Not to mention how terrible things had gone the last time he’d gotten involved with a woman. While he knew that not every woman he encountered would be the same sort of avaricious vulture that the woman who gave birth to his child turned out to be, he was still consciously aware that any decision he made on that front needed to be careful. It wasn’t just himself and his stupid heart at risk this time, Cora would be involved in any relationship he was in, for better or for worse. Steeling his resolve, Ben decided he would do his best to ride out this infatuation and not make any decisions that he would come to regret later. 

Still, it was hard not to feel something for her. His daughter was so clearly crazy about her and there had been several times when Rey was playing with her that he had to turn away momentarily. There was so many conflicting emotion warring inside him, watching Rey happily play peek a boo or read his daughter a story with silly voices. He felt an intense sense of guilt knowing that Cora’s mother would never be involved in her daughter’s life. He didn’t want her there, but it seemed truly unfair to him that Cora was without a mother because of her selfishness. 

When Monday morning came, Ben felt a little frantic. He’d woken up early and quietly showered, shaved and made some coffee. Cora was still sleeping soundly and he wondered whether he should wake her up and get her fed before Rey got there. He wasn’t quite sure of the protocol. At 7:30, he was dressed and had his briefcase put together and he was essentially ready to go when there was a gentle knock on the door. He pulled it open and Rey was on the doorstep, hair pulled out of her face in the trio of buns that she seemed to favor and a bright smile on her face. 

“Good morning,” she intoned brightly as he stepped aside to let her in. “You look like you’re ready for number time.”

Ben tried not to notice that her legs, encased in jean shorts that hit about midway down her thighs, were tanned and toned. “Good morning,” he replied. “You seem chipper.”

“I’m definitely a morning person,” she smiled. “Is Cora still sleeping?”

Ben nodded. “I thought about waking her, but then she’d be cranky for the first few hours you were here and that seemed like a bad way to start the day.”

Rey looked thoughtful. “No, that’s a good idea.” She glanced around. “Anything in particular you want me to feed her for breakfast and lunch?”

“Oh,” Ben started, “follow me to the kitchen.” He led the way even though she already knew the basic layout of the house. She trailed behind him quietly and he had to resist the urge to look behind him and make sure she was still there. “There’s an assortment of baby food in the fridge,” he gestured as he spoke. “I like to give her a mix of something fruity, Greek yogurt, and oatmeal in the morning. She really enjoys the carrot and butternut squash baby food, so that’s always an easy option for lunch. I’m thinking that in a few weeks I’ll start her on chicken, but for now I don’t want to rush things.”

Rey nodded, taking it all in. “That sounds easy enough. I brought some homework to do while she’d napping, if that’s alright with you.”

“That’s great!” Ben replied a little more enthusiastically than strictly necessary. “There’s adult food in the fridge, too. Feel free to help yourself.”

“Maybe,” Rey responded. “I brought my own lunch, so probably not today, but thank you.”

“I still have a few minutes before I have to leave for work,” Ben started. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Actually,” Rey answered, “that would be great.”

He grabbed a coffee cup for her and poured some of the brown liquid into it. “Cream and sugar?”

“Light and sweet,” she replied with a smile.

There was something domestic, Ben thought, in knowing how someone takes their coffee. When Rey took a sip and told him it was perfect, he felt that same warmth that had filled him the day before when he’d walked her to her car. He realized that the situation he was putting himself in wasn’t helping the feelings he was trying to fight off and he cleared his throat, wishing her a good day and asking her to check in with him every hour or so to let him know how Cora was doing. 

“Have a good day!” she called out from the porch and as he backed out of the driveway, he saw that she was watching him go, coffee cup in one hand, the other firmly in the air, waving goodbye. 

It didn’t take long for him to get to work, but by the time he did, there was a picture message from her. Cora was awake, eyes still a little sleepy, but clearly happy.  
_Cora says ‘Have a good day at work!’_  
He saved the picture and slid the phone back into his pocket, a wide smile on his face. 

The work he was doing wasn’t difficult at this point, it was mostly tedious. He had to familiarize himself with the system at this new place and look over the past numbers, checking for any errors. By noon he had several new pictures of Cora, including one where she’d obviously gotten the spoon away from Rey at breakfast and had managed to smear the food into her hair, which had been followed not long after by his daughter, freshly bathed and dressed grinning on Rey’s lap. At around two, he’d received a video message from Rey, prompting him to take a break to the bathroom with his headphones. 

Cora was smiling and bouncing in her baby bouncer and Rey’s disembodied voice was slowly and deliberately saying “Dah. Dah. Dah.” After a few repetitions, his daughter started babbling the same noise back to Rey rapidly. Rey laughed and murmured “It’s not quite Dad, but it’s pretty close” and Ben wished more so than ever that he was back home. 

In the last hour of work, he was constantly checking the clock. He’d made good headway on the workload he’d been assigned that week and had spent nearly ten minutes trying to decide which of the new pictures of Cora that Rey sent him would be computer background. He finally chose the one of her, rosy and sweet, after her bath and perched on Rey’s lap. In the last 30 minutes, a coworker approached him. She was a red head, statuesque and admittedly pretty in a severe way. She’d sauntered into his area as if it was the most natural thing and rested against his desk.

“Hello,” her voice was husky, and quite obviously purposefully pitched that way. “How’s your first day been?”

Ben shifted in his chair, grudgingly giving her his attention. “It’s been fine. Pretty much par for the course.”

She smiled, just a little too brightly. “That’s wonderful. I was thinking about going to a happy hour after work. You know, grabbing a few drinks to work off the Monday blues. You should come with me. Maybe we could get to know each other better. It must be hard, moving to a new city, starting a new job and all.”

Ben shook his head, dismissively. “Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got to get home to my daughter. Thanks though.”

Her auburn eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know you had a kid.” She pointedly glanced at his left hand, and Ben wished his hands weren’t splayed out so visibly. He was feeling a little like he was being hunted. “So, gotta get home to the daughter and girlfriend, then? It’s a shame you can’t just tell them you got caught up late at work.” She eyed him when she said that, almost as if daring him to deny her.

Ben felt, very distinctly, that even if he did have a wedding ring on, she wouldn’t have stopped pushing. The woman seemed like a human resources’ nightmare. “I’m afraid I can’t,” Ben responded, making the active choice to not reveal the lack of a significant other. “There are too many things to do, you understand, having just moved here.”

She smiled at him again, and something in the stretched too thin smirk reminded him of Cora’s mom when she was revealing her real intentions behind having a baby with him. “Well, maybe you’ll change your mind once you’ve settled in more.”

“Sure,” Ben replied, eyeing the clock and feeling profoundly uncomfortable. “Maybe I will.”

She leaned in closer to him and suddenly Ben distinctly wished he wasn’t sitting down. Her face never could get this uncomfortably close to his while he was standing. “It’s a date, then” she purred before straightening up, trailing her fingertips up his arm gently as she did so and Ben tried not to cringe. He might have, at one point, been thrilled with this type of attention, but it was too much, too quickly, and too like the practiced and well-honed seduction he’d hopelessly succumbed to with Cora’s mother. The idea of it made him feel distinctly ill and he was suddenly concerned with this new job. He hoped this wouldn’t be a reoccurring thing. 

Finally, it seemed, it was time to go and he was out the door in a hurry, happy to be getting home. He drove faster than was probably deemed safe given the beautiful clear morning had turned dark. The sky had opened and was dropping rain in sheets. Thunder rolled in the distance and he wondered what his daughter was making of the sound. 

In what felt like an eternity later, but was only thirty minutes, he was home, slightly damp from the run to his car without an umbrella. He unlocked the front door and entered his home, wanting nothing more than to change into dry clothes and cuddle up with Cora. On the couch in the living room was his daughter, fast asleep on top of Rey, who was covered with the plush blue throw. She looked up at his entrance and her smile was genuine. 

“I wanted to send you a picture of this because it’s really sweet,” she whispered loudly, “but I also didn’t want to move because I don’t want to upset her.”

“I’ll take the picture” he offered, and when she nodded her pulled out his phone and framed it just right to include them both. 

“Send that one to me?” she asked, still whispering.

He nodded, sliding his briefcase to the floor and pulling his jacket off, relieved to get the wet thing off him. “It’s pouring outside. Do you have an umbrella?”

Rey frowned for a moment. “I don’t even have my car. My roommate’s car wouldn’t start this morning, so I had him take mine and drop me off here.” Cora stirred a little and she lowered her voice. “I figured I’d take some time after school tonight to find out what’s wrong with it and have it fixed by Wednesday or Thursday. I wasn’t expecting it to rain or I would have worn pants.”

Ben shook his head. “How were you going to get home?”

“I planned on walking to the store where Finn works. It’s not so far, and then I could take my car to school and Finn’s boyfriend would take him home.”

“Well,” Ben started, “there’s no way that’s going to happen now. I’ll drive you wherever you need and I’ve got a hoodie you can borrow.”

Rey was obviously about to argue, but Cora started to move and woke up with a little sigh. Rey wrapped her arms around the girl and sat up, still draped in the blanket. Ben quickly closed the space between the two of them and knelt in front of his daughter and Rey. She gurgled joyously when she saw him. 

“Cora,” Rey said “show your dad what we worked on.”

As if she fully understood every word Rey said, his daughter reached for Ben and started babbling “Dah” more rapidly until it almost sounded like she was calling him ‘Dada’. Ben took her into his arms and she came gleefully and immediately grabbed onto his nose, still babbling. Ben winced slightly and Rey laughed. 

“She grabs my hair and pulls like she’s afraid it’s going to disappear forever if she doesn’t hold onto it,” Rey told him. Ben looked at her and realized quickly just how close he was to her. Much closer than the redhead at his office, whose name he’d either forgotten or had chosen not to remember, had been to him earlier. This, however, didn’t feel awkward in the least. It felt comfortable, the way he felt whenever he was near Rey. The woman in question was watching Cora try her best to pry his nose from his face with a silly grin. She looked into his eyes and looked as if she was going to say something, but she faltered, locking her gaze to his instead, her grin fading into a more serious expression. There was something there, a moment of realization. Ben shifted Cora away from his face and she laid her head onto his shoulder and cuddled her face into his neck. Rey's eyes darted down, momentarily and Ben could have almost sworn that she'd glanced at his mouth. She absently worried her bottom lip with her teeth; their faces were so close to each other that if he leaned forward just a little…

Ben shook himself mentally. This was the opposite of what he was trying to do. He straightened and cleared his throat. “I’m going to find a jacket for you and get Cora into a hat and a jacket of her own.” He walked away quickly, but when he glanced over his shoulder to the couch, Rey was looking at him, both bewildered and, if he wasn’t mistaken, mildly disappointed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **A/N: I originally wanted this chapter to be about twice the length it is now, but I also wanted to get this up before Thursday and since I've worked an absurd number of hours this week because of the holiday, I thought I'd publish the eleven or so pages that I had written. Hopefully this means getting chapter 5 up within the next few days.  
>  For those of you who are American, Happy Thanksgiving.**

The first week at Ben’s new job passed relatively uneventfully with the exception of Catherine, the presumptuous redhead, making frequent appearance with so called “financial questions”. She hadn’t ceased in her attempts to get Ben to come out for drinks or dinner with her despite his obvious lack of desire to do so. His phone was now filled with dozens of pictures and videos of Cora and Rey and he looked through them whenever he was faced with a particularly challenging encounter with Catherine.

By Friday, Catherine was insistent that he come get drinks with her and “a few coworkers, for solidarity”. Ben was trying to come up with reasons to bow out without it seeming like she was the main reason for his reluctance. He was making the feeble excuse of still needing to unpack, a blatant lie, when his computer dinged, announcing an email. The blank screensaver went away, exposing the background, which Catherine openly stared at. Ben was mildly confused at her rapt attention until he remembered that just that morning he’d made the decision to use the picture he’d taken that first day of Cora sleeping on top of a beaming Rey. 

“So,” Catherine started, the scorn obvious in her voice, “that’s your girlfriend then?”

Ben colored, a combination of embarrassed and angry. He was torn between the truth and wanting to lie his ass off with the hope that she would finally leave him alone. 

“Yes,” he said, surprising himself. “That’s my girlfriend.”

Catherine hadn’t torn her eyes from the picture. Ben’s eyes were fixed on her, he knew he looked hostile but her expression was bothering him. She looked haughty and was staring down her nose at the picture of Rey in a way that made him clench his jaw. 

“She’s pretty,” Catherine said in a tone that suggested she thought her anything but. “She’s a little young, isn’t she?”

“No,” Ben replied, the anger he was feeling was barely concealed. “But she is wonderful and she makes me very happy. I guess that’s the reason why I don’t see the need to go out for happy hour every night of the week. I’d rather go home to my family.”

As Catherine turned away, Ben could have sworn he saw she woman rolling her eyes. As much as that annoyed him, the telltale pink blossoming on her ears as she walked away casting a goodbye over her shoulder was enough for him to feel satisfied with his lie. She was obviously either upset or embarrassed and Ben felt a small thrill of victory at that. He hoped that would be the end of her constant harassment. 

On the drive home, Ben’s phone rang through the speakers of his car. He answered it, perplexed.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Rey,” her voice flooded through the speakers in his car. She’d never called him before. Instantly, Ben ran through a dozen terrible reasons why she would be calling him.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry! I guess I should have led with that.” Rey sounded a little breathless and now as Ben listened closer he could hear the happy squeals of Cora. “So, I don’t have class tonight, how do you feel about taking Cora on a walk through the park and grabbing a pizza or something?”

Ben hesitated, wondering if it would be a good idea to spend even more time with Rey. He’d just lied and told a coworker she was his girlfriend and implied that she was also Cora’s mother. He couldn’t help thinking that spending the evening with her while they took care of Cora and had dinner together would further exacerbate the problem of the feelings that he held for her. 

“Are you still there?”

Ben shook himself. Maybe it was a terrible idea, but her wanted to see more of her. “Yeah, that would be great. I haven’t taken Cora to the park yet, so it’ll be a treat for her.”

“Great!” Rey’s voice was bright and clearly pleased. “So, I’ll see you when you get home, then. Bye Ben!”

He murmured a goodbye and tried to ignore the way he felt about hearing Rey refer to his house as a home, as if she too lived there. His concentration was waning while he was driving. While he drove the now familiar roads home, his mind wandered and his considered a world in which Rey was waiting for him to come back from work because she did live with him and she was excited to see him after a long day. He wondered if she’d greet him with a kiss or if he’d come home, toss his suit jacket over a chair and find her wrapped up in taking care of Cora. He imagined coming home to a scene like the one he’d seen on Monday, except with Rey cuddled up to Cora in his bed and her smiling up at him, prompting him to slide in the sheets and wrap her in his arms. 

His hands gripped the steering wheel and he exhaled slowly, knowing that letting his mind wander to those scenarios was risky, especially when he was about to spend more time with her than normal. He continued to remind himself that she was just his babysitter and that’s all she could be. He turned his music up louder and tried to focus on the road and his stereo for the rest of the drive home. He mostly succeeded. 

He pulled into the driveway and turned the car off, taking a moment to brush away the lingering feelings. He reminded himself again that Rey was his nineteen-year-old babysitter and she was only hanging around because she was taking care of Cora. Steeling himself, he got out of the car, walked up the small pathway and opened the door to his home. Rey and Cora weren’t immediately visible, but he heard singing coming from the back, so he knew that they were probably in Cora’s room. 

“Hey, I’m home” Ben called out. He immediately cringed when he realized how that sounded. The singing stopped abruptly and Ben found himself wishing he hadn’t made his presence known right away. There was a shuffling sound to replace the singing and Rey emerged from the hallway, holding Cora against her hip with one arm and smiling widely. 

“Look, Cora! Who’s that? Is Daddy home?”

Cora started laughing and making grabby hands in his direction and he hurried over to Rey and Cora, trying his best to hide his flushed face. Cora eagerly moved from Rey’s arms into his and he held his daughter close to him, brushing his lips against the top of her head. Excitement thrummed in him when he realized that he would have two days with Cora without the irritation of work getting in the way.

“How was she today?” Ben questioned, shifting her as she bounced up and down in his grip.

“She was wonderful,” Rey said. “Basically par for the course. We had breakfast and read together and played for a while and she just woke up from a nap about half an hour ago so she’d got plenty of energy for the park.”

Ben smiled at his daughter. “Did you have fun with Rey today?” She continued babbling at him and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, pressing her little face against his and letting out an ear-piercing shriek.

Rey laughed. “She’s been very into hugging today. I think she’s done the same hug scream with me half a dozen times today. It’s a lot funnier when I’m not the one whose ears are ringing.”

Ben held Cora closer to him and smiled. “I don’t mind. I’ll take the hug after the day that I had.”

“Work was rough?” Rey asked, tilting her head and looking at him in concern. 

“Work was fine, coworkers are less then great at times. One in particular keeps trying to convince me to go out for drinks and I don’t have time for that.”

“Well,” Rey started, the hesitance obvious in her voice. “I don’t have anything big to do tonight, obviously. If you want, we don’t have to go to the park and I’ll watch Cora while you go out.”

Ben shook his head. “I’d much rather spend time with the two of you.” He realized how that sounded and quickly added “And I don’t drink anymore, so it would be a waste of time.”

Rey’s brows drew together. “Anymore?”

Ben shrugged, his daughter squealing again at the movement. “I used to drink too much, so now I don’t drink at all. It’s better that way. Besides, I have a child now. There are more important things to do with my time than sit in a bar for half the night.” Rey was nodding. “I’d much rather take my little girl to the park and devour some pizza.”

“Well, do you want to take a shower before we go? That way I can get Cora fed and then I’ll probably need to change her clothes after that and then we can go.”

“That sounds great,” Ben replied, reluctantly handing Cora back to Rey. She went easily, happy about being passed back and forth between the two of them. He leaned in to give her head another parting kiss, but realized that would put him perilously close to Rey’s face and mouth, so he changed his mind and sent the two girls a slightly awkward smile. 

Showering with Rey in the house was less awkward this time around. He wasn’t worried about leaving Cora alone with her, for one. He took his time, knowing that Rey would very unlikely be done before him. The warm water felt incredible and he turned the heat up, letting it work some of the tension out of his back and shoulders. He tried not to think about Rey, knowing well enough that thinking about her while in the shower was just plain lecherous and he didn’t want to be that guy. His mind flitted back and forth between thoughts of her and self-deprecating thoughts about himself for thinking about her. 

As he turned the water off, he could faintly hear Rey was obviously still in the dining room trying to convince Cora to eat and he smiled. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one who had a hell of a time trying to get her to eat. He ran a towel over his hair, trying to get it as dry as possible. He headed to his bedroom, one towel wrapped around his head, the other draped around his hips, and tried to decide what to wear. Eventually, he settled on a pair of comfortable jeans and a dark gray Henley shirt. The evenings were starting to get a bit brisker, so he decided to bring his leather jacket with him. 

He tossed his towel aside and dressed quickly, conscious of the fact that, while unlikely, it was a possibility that Rey could mistakenly come into his bedroom. When he finished, he gave his hair one last thorough rub with the towel and hung the two back in the bathroom before striding out into the hallway. He heard Rey chattering in Cora’s room through the open door and he leaned against the door frame to watch her. She was wearing snug black jeans that hugged her long legs nicely and a plain deep burgundy shirt that rose several inches when she, back still to the door stretched her arms. 

“Okay, Cora, what should we dress you up in? Maybe those cute black and white striped leggings I saw yesterday? Does that sound good to you?” She paused as if waiting for an answer and then hummed contentedly. “Okay, so the leggings and that little pink long sleeve onesie that says ‘Daddy’s girl’. We should probably put one of those adorable little sweaters on you too. I’m pretty sure you have a black one. You know, for a baby you have a lot of black.” Rey looked through the doors, successfully finding both the onesie she was looking for and a soft black sweater that Ben’s mom had picked up for Cora. “I’ll bet your dad bought all the black things in the store so you can match him, huh?”

“Actually,” Ben started, a smile gracing his lip when Rey jumped, turned spun around and spotted him, “my mother bought her the sweater. She’s partial to cashmere and she almost had a fit when she saw how cute and tiny that specific sweater was. I think she always wanted a girl.” 

He felt a mild satisfaction at seeing Rey flush with the realization that he’d overheard her.

“I hope you didn’t think I was making fun of you or anything” Rey began quickly, the pink staining her cheeks. “I try to talk to her as much as possible. The more you talk to them, the more likely they are to start talking back.”

Ben was pleased by her proclamation. “I know,” he responded. “Every baby book I’ve read has said that. I think it’s great that you’re talking to her constantly too.”

The embarrassed look was fading from Rey’s face and a smile was slowly spreading across her face. “It feels a little silly at times, but she also seems to like it. Would you like to help me get her dressed? She’s being a wriggle worm today.”

Ben nodded and unfolded his arms, crossing the room wordlessly. Rey continued to chat nonsense at Cora, who, true to what Rey said, did her best to try to make getting her dressed exceptionally difficult. After a few minutes of struggling they got her set up and Ben picked her up and snuggled her close, enjoying the warmth and smell of the little girl he’d missed all day. He stayed like that for a moment, only looking up when he heard the telltale sound of a camera shutter and then he looked at Rey to see her phone out and the woman grinning. 

“Sorry, you guys just looked adorable.” She slid the phone back in her pocket. “I packed a diaper bag and got the stroller ready. They’re both by the front door. Are you ready?”

Ben stared down at Rey and felt a relief that was nothing short of euphoric when he realized that at this time one week ago, he was stressed out about the idea of leaving Cora alone with anyone who wasn’t his mother and Rey had walked into his life and picked up the pieces, making everything so much easier. 

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Ben replied and Rey gently bumped her hip against him and started to walk away and that was all it took for Ben to know that all the resistance and every mantra in the world wouldn’t stop what was already happening. 

Rey was working her way past every wall he was trying to put up against her, so maybe it was time he stopped trying.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **This is initially where I wanted chapter 4 to end, but because I wanted to meet my personal deadline of a Thursday chapter, I ended it prematurely, so chapter 5 is a bit shorter than normal, but hopefully you guys will like it. Chapter 6 will be really long and I'm hoping to have it up by Tuesday. Thanks for reading!**

They loaded Cora up with little problem and Rey slid into the front seat easily. Their conversation flowed with more ease now that Ben was no longer trying to keep his answers short for fear of getting too close too quickly. After the second time he made her laugh, they pulled into the parking lot for the pretty little park. 

Cora was clearly enjoying every second of their excursion. She watched the other children run and play with wide eyes and when another couple passed with a stroller, she let out a happy little shriek at the sight of another baby, which made Ben laugh out loud. 

“I think Cora has a new favorite place,” Rey said, her own happiness evident. 

“I think I found my new favorite place to take her. I should try to get her out here at least once a week. Maybe if she spends more time seeing other kids, she won’t be as shy.”

Ben looked down at Rey and saw that she was smiling up at him. “I’m more than happy to come with you if I don’t have school.”

This time, the warmth that pooled in him felt comfortable and secure. “I’d like that.” 

“This park also has a section for dogs,” Rey informed him. “We should walk Cora past it. I bet she’d love to see them.”

“Lead the way,” Ben replied with a grin and Rey wrapped her arm around his and guided him down the path.

The air was crisp and it was obvious winter was going to be here before he knew it. Rey and Ben made simple small talk about the changing weather while on their way to the dog park and Cora made non-stop little squeaks of excitement. When they finally made it to the fenced in sections where there were a multitude of happy, barking dogs Cora fell uncharacteristically silent. Ben leaned over the top of the stroller to glance down at her and saw that both her eyes and mouth were wide with awe. 

“Look at her,” Ben told Rey, laughing, stopping in his tracks. Rey crouched in front of the stroller and, upon seeing Cora’s little face she laughed so hard that Ben was distinctly afraid she’d fall over.

“Do you think we should take her out of the stroller and carry her over for a closer look or will that frighten her too much?” Rey queried when she regained control of herself and Ben paused.

“I think we should give it a shot. If we keep her close, I think she’ll feel safe enough.”

Rey made quick work of the safety restraints on the stroller and pulled Cora into her arms. Ben saw that she came eagerly and when Rey settled her onto her hip, Ben smiled, enjoying the picture they presented. Rey was looking at Cora and the adoration in her face was obvious. 

He would never understand how this woman who barely knew the two of them could fit with them so perfectly when Cora’s mother, whom he’d been involved with for several months before she’d fallen pregnant had never made him feel this same sense of ease. If he’d known that it was possible to feel this comfortable with someone, he’d have never fallen under the other woman’s spell.

“Well, look who it is,” a familiar voice rang out and with no small dread Ben tore his eyes away from Rey and Cora and looked into the diamond hard eyes of Catherine. She was, despite the chill of the early even, wearing spandex shorts and a skin-tight racerback tank top, her red hair pulled into a tight ponytail and still swinging. She was obviously out for an early evening jog and Ben’s good mood was quickly vanishing. 

“Hello Catherine. I thought you were going out drinking tonight” Ben’s voice was strained, hard and when he glanced at Rey he saw the look of surprise on her face. She glanced quickly between the two of them and pulled Cora tighter against her, concern tightening her features. 

Catherine’s voice was silky, “Well, there was hardly any point to it since I couldn’t convince you to come out with us.” She turned slightly so her back was to Rey and Cora and she reached her hand out to Ben, placing it on his bicep with a grin. “I decided to go running instead. I like to keep myself in shape,” her smile widened until Ben thought it had to be painful. “And clearly I’m not the only one who likes to workout. Ben, you must spend all your spare time in the gym; your biceps are great. Maybe one of these days we can work out together.”

Ben glanced over at Rey whose face was flushed pink. She took a few steps backward to try to extricate herself from the situation. She was obviously uncomfortable and he saw her look around as if she was trying desperately to find something to distract herself with. 

“I doubt it,” Ben replied flatly, staring hard at her hand until she pulled it off his arm. “I have to get going. Enjoy your run.” Ben turned to go and he heard Catherine call out from behind him.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little family?”

His heart was throbbing in his head and there was a dull ache spreading from his stiff shoulders into his neck and the base of his skull. His eyes met Rey’s and she looked mildly confused, but she shrugged and took a reluctant step forward. 

“I’m Rey, and this is Cora.”

Catherine brushed past Ben where he’d frozen in his tracks. “It’s nice to meet you,” Catherine started, and even though Ben couldn’t see Catherine’s face, the way Rey’s forced smile faltered slightly told him all he needed to know. 

“Well,” Ben said, briskly walking past Catherine to take his spot back next to Rey and Cora, “We really have to be going. Cora wants to get a closer look at the dogs and then we’re going to grab some pizza. I’ll see you at work.” Again, Ben tried his best to dismiss her and again she wouldn’t take the hint.

“Oh, I love pizza!” Catherine crooned. “And I’ve worked up quite the appetite. I know this great little Italian place that does the best pizza. Let’s all go together.”

Ben didn’t need to look at Rey, he felt her stiffen beside him and all the warmth he was feeling earlier was completely drained out of him and was being quickly replaced by a hot rage when he looked down at Rey and saw the disappointment on her face. His temper was quickly getting the better of him, but before he could say anything Rey interceded. 

“I’m not sure that would be best. It’s been a long week and I think Ben needs a quiet night.” Ben was grateful for Rey. She was a lot more tactful than him and her dismissal was a lot politer than the ‘Fuck off’ that had been on the tip of Ben’s tongue. 

“Oh, but I’ve been wanting to get to know you! Ben has the cutest picture of you as his computer background and I’ve just been so curious ever since I saw it.” Catherine’s voice had lost the hard, desperate edge it had taken earlier and was now sugary sweet. 

“Another time,” Ben interjecting, his panic seeping into his voice. He was regretting his decision to use the picture of Rey and Cora, realizing that for Rey it was probably incredibly creepy for her nearly 30-year-old boss to have a picture of her like that. He was trying to get her away from Catherine before the woman dropped the bomb that he’d lied about Rey being his girlfriend and, even more outrageously, that she was Cora’s mother. 

Fortunately, Cora herself solved the issue by bursting into the loudest, most heart wrenching, tears Ben had heard. His worry for his daughter eclipsed any embarrassment he was feeling. Rey was immediately distracted and she shifted Cora up high and shot a worried look to Ben. 

“I think she might have just reached her limit. There’s too much happening for her right now,” Rey announced, and Ben could tell she was guessing and didn’t really know why Cora would have suddenly gone from incredibly content to wailing. 

“Here, let me take her,” Ben suggested and Rey passed Cora into his arms. Ben rested her against his chest and Rey left to retrieve the stroller. “Sorry,” Ben said to Catherine, “Looks like we’re heading home.”

Catherine’s face had contorted at Cora’s first scream and it was obvious by her wrinkled nose that she was not a fan of children. “Yeah, that’s a good idea” she responded curtly. “See you later.” 

With that she continued her run and Rey approached with the stroller and Ben shook his head. “I guess she can see the dogs next time.”

“That’s fine,” Rey replied, not looking at him but falling into step beside him. The silence that followed felt taut and Ben was trying to figure out what to say to her. 

“I’m sorry if that was uncomfortable for you,” Ben started and Rey looked up. “I don’t care for her and she’s always finding a way to invade my personal space. She’s the one that is constantly trying to get me to come out with her.”

Rey nodded and opened and shut her mouth a few times before replying. “Do you really have a picture of me as your computer background?”

Ben felt his face heat. Cora had settled and was no longer crying and he tried to focus on her soft huffing noises. “It’s not just of you. It’s that picture of Cora sleeping on you. I like it a lot.” His mind was scrambling and he was afraid to look down at Rey. “I guess it’s because when I saw that I really knew that Cora trusted you and that I could too. Whenever I see it, it reminds me that I’ve left my daughter in the best hands.”

“Okay,” Rey drew the word out and exhaled. “Ben, what happened to Cora’s mother?”

Ben knew the question would come eventually, but it didn’t make it any easier. “I’ll tell you over dinner, it’s a long story.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **AN: I have been devoting an insane amount of time to writing this fic and now it's finally starting to develop some deeper plot. Now that the story is really starting to take shape, I'm thinking that this fic is going to round in at about 25-30 chapters and as long as you guys are willing to hang with me for this ride, I'll try to keep churning out a couple of chapters a week. All the reviews have really given me motivation to keep writing. I never thought I'd get so many responses to this, so I want to just say thank you to everyone who's taken the time to leave a review or a kudos. You keep me going even when I get writer's block.**

Ben had initially thought that he’d try taking Rey to one of the little Italian restaurants he’d seen in town, but given the serious nature of the conversation they were about to have, he chose to call in an order for delivery. Rey had left the decision of toppings up to him, saying that she wasn’t particularly picky and then she’d settled into quiet anticipation. Cora fell asleep on the car ride home, her tantrum having tired her out. Rey kept turning in her seat to check on her and when she let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a snuffle and a snort, she smiled fondly. 

The ride back was a much quieter and more solemn affair and Ben was worrying about having to dredge up the story. It wasn’t one he was particularly proud of and he was apprehensive about Rey learning the whole truth. When they arrived home, Rey offered to put Cora into her crib and while she was busy with that the pizza arrived and Ben took it into the kitchen, bringing down a couple of plates. 

“Those are pretty fancy plates for pizza.” 

Ben nearly jumped when he heard her voice so close behind him. He hadn’t heard her approach. When he turned to face her, she looked curiously somber, far different from the girl he’d gotten to know whose default demeanor had always been cheerful. 

He glanced at the plates and shrugged, “They’re the ones I have.” He looked back up at her, “What do you use when you eat pizza at home?”

“Paper plates,” Rey responded. “Paper towels sometimes. Occasionally Finn and I just eat it straight out of the box like animals. We’re college students, we make do.”

Ben felt the gap between the two of them widen. He tried not to remember the fact that he’d finished his Master’s degree over 6 years earlier. “I have paper towels if that will make you feel more comfortable.”

Rey cracked a smile at that. “No, I’ll take the fancy plate, even if it’s unchipped and probably not purchased in a mixed set from a consignment store.”

“God, I remember those days,” Ben laughed. “I haven’t had ramen in years and I’m still struggling to enjoy foods without eight times the daily recommended serving of salt.”

The tension was broken, but Ben knew that it would return once he started on the story. He pulled a Coke from the fridge and offered another one to Rey, who accepted happily.  
“I met Cora’s mom almost two years ago, I was at a bar with a man who, at the time, could loosely be called a friend and she approached me,” Ben cast a look at Rey. “Look, I understand that I’m not a terrible looking guy now, but I was a really weird looking kid and that just kind of sticks with you, so when a beautiful woman came up to me and offered to buy me a drink it was incredible.” 

Rey nodded in understanding and Ben took a swig of his drink. “At first it was great. She was gorgeous and smart and funny and I finally had someone to come to all the boring work functions with me. Her lease on her place ended and instead of renewing it, I just told her to move in with me. I thought that things were going really well…I guess I saw only what I wanted. When she got pregnant, I was surprised because she’d told me she was on birth control, but I was excited. That’s how things are supposed to work out, right? You meet someone, you live together, you start a family, that’s just how life works.”

Rey was watching him carefully and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what she was thinking about his story so far. 

“Things were good, I went to every doctor’s appointment, I bought baby clothes, I made up a nursery and the whole time she encouraged all of this and told me we were going to be the perfect little family. She encouraged me to get back into contact with my parents whom I hadn’t spoken to since I was in my teens. My mother was incredibly happy that she was going to be a grandmother. I thought everything was perfect and I was completely fucking blindsided.”

He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. His eyes had begun to tear up and he didn’t want to cry in front of her. “I was there while she gave birth and Cora was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. From the moment I held her in my arms I knew that I was so in love and that my whole life was different and all I wanted for the rest of my life was to keep her safe and make her happy. And then her mother gave me the choice between losing my child and paying her an absurd amount of money. I thought I was going to have a family and then I found out that it was a con the whole time. She knew who I was from the beginning and preyed on me for a windfall of cash.”

He heard a noise and turned his attention back to Rey. She had her hands fisted in front of her mouth and her eyes were glassy and he knew that she was holding back tears of her own. 

“I have a past. I got into a little bit of trouble when I was nineteen. It’s the reason I stopped speaking with my parents for so many years. I was dumb and I pulled some stupid shit. I got arrested and my mother managed to use both her money and considerable political connections to get me out of jail and to get all but the least serious charges dropped. She knew that and she used it against me, basically, she blackmailed me and my family into paying her half a million dollars to sign over full custody and disappear. If we didn’t, she’d take Cora and put her in the system. I might have eventually been able to get her back, but considering my past, I might not have either.”

He watched a single tear slip past her lashes and down her face. Rey made no movement to wipe it away. The pizza lay forgotten on the table, growing cold while Ben vented. 

“Not long after I did get custody of Cora, I was in the same hospital as she’d been born in and I ran into her mother’s OB-GYN who asked how she was doing and if she was feeling any of the side effects from the Clomiphene she’d been taking now that the pregnancy was over. I didn’t know what she was talking about. When I made that known, she muttered something about doctor and patient confidentiality, but I googled it when she left and Clomiphene is a fertility drug. Not only was she not on birth control, she was taking drugs to increase the probability of conceiving.”

Rey shook her head. “I didn’t know women actually did things like that.”

“They don’t,” Ben replied. “I mean, it’s not something that happens. This was a really rare case of reproductive abuse.” Rey tilted her head and Ben clarified. “It’s a blanket term I had the joy of discovering after a few therapy sessions. I guess a more well-known version is when men remove condoms during sex without their partner’s consent with the intention of ‘trapping’ a woman with a pregnancy or when women deliberately stop taking birth control. It’s apparently not uncommon. The degree of effort that went into the deceit I was involved in is uncommon though.”

“How could anyone do something like that?”

“For money,” Ben answered, flatly. “Some people will do anything for money.”

Rey was obviously horrified. “But she abandoned her kid.”

Ben shook his head. “I don’t think she ever saw Cora as anything but a means to an end.”

“How?” Rey intoned. “Cora is the sweetest baby I’ve ever met. How can anyone not fall in love with her?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, I loved her the moment I saw her.”

The chair made a squealing noise when Rey pushed it back and stood abruptly. Ben eyed her warily, but she didn’t falter for an instant. She wrapped her arms around him firmly and Ben stayed still for a moment in shock. While she’d always been affectionate with Cora, she’d barely shook his hand and had laughed every time he’d opened a door for her. After a beat, he returned the hug and she pressed herself against him even more firmly. He realized then that she was shaking slightly and the spot where she’d rested her face against him was slightly damp. He realized she was crying and guilt racked him as he rubbed his hands up and down her back gently, soothing her. They stayed like that for several minutes and Ben closed his eyes. As much as dredging up the feelings associated with that part of his life had drained him, the way it felt to hold onto Rey made it worth it. 

“I don’t understand how anyone could do that to you and Cora.” Rey sighed and her breath in his ear was making him feel things that were entirely inappropriate given the context. “I hardly know you, but I like you.”

Ben’s heart was suddenly beating too loud and too fast. He didn’t know if she meant she like him as a person or as something more and he didn’t know how to ask her to clarify without sounding like an ass. 

“And I love Cora,” she continued. “I don’t see how anyone could just abandon their child that way.”

Ben cleared his throat, “Not everyone thinks the same way that you do. Cora was never more than a bargaining chip in her mother’s mind. And even so, I wouldn’t go back and change meeting her because without her I wouldn’t have Cora and I’d probably have never reconciled with my parents or moved here.”

Rey broke away from the embrace and looked up at him. “I’m still going to hate her, though.”

Ben laughed, “Well, hate her all you want, but the point of shelling out the kind of money that I did was to ensure that she stays the hell away from us so I doubt you’ll ever get to hate her in person.”

“That’s probably for the best,” there was a twinkle in her eye now. “I don’t have influential parents to save my butt if I get into trouble.”

Ben tilted his head, acknowledging the jibe with a smile, and then he grew more serious. “Since we’re talking about our pasts, what happened to your parents?”

Rey’s smile froze on her face and she looked away. Ben wanted immediately to take back his question and apologize, but as he was opening his mouth to do so, she spoke.

“I don’t know what happened, honestly. The police found me wandering alone, but otherwise unperturbed. They were never able to locate my parents. I was legally declared a ward of the state before my ninth birthday and I bounced around a couple of foster homes until Unkar’s place. I lived there from around ten until I was seventeen. Unkar told me that once I aged out I’d be on the street, but Finn had gotten a small apartment together and I left in the middle of the night so Unkar couldn’t stop me.”

Ben was watching her face. While she’d been incredibly emotive while he’d told her his story, her face was blank and empty while she told her own. He felt a great deal of sympathy for her childhood, but he knew instinctively that voicing such feelings would make her uncomfortable. 

“If Unkar was so eager to get rid of you, why would he have tried to stop you, provided the money kept coming in?”

Rey shuddered and Ben was suddenly struck with the feeling that he didn’t want to know the answer to the question he’d just asked.

“He didn’t really want me to leave. He wanted to scare me into being more compliant.” Rey’s eyes locked onto Ben’s and she bit her bottom lip roughly. “He wanted me around to keep his house clean and fix anything that broke and to take care of all the kids he fostered. But he also made it clear that once I was eighteen I wouldn’t have a place to sleep unless it was in his bed.”

Ben was angry enough that he stood abruptly, knocking the chair he was sitting in halfway across the room. He paced the length of the table and tugged a hand through his hair roughly.

“Just out of curiosity,” Ben could hear the repressed rage in his voice and he struggle to smooth his voice slightly. “Where does this Unkar Plutt live?”

Rey’s eyes were wide. “I don’t think it would be wise to tell you that.” Ben was afraid he was scaring her, but he couldn’t force himself to sit down. The face that a man who was supposed to be a surrogate parent to Rey had tried to force her to share a bed with him made him furious. 

“Ben, sit down. There’s no need to get upset over something that happened years ago. Finn got me out and we’ve been living together ever since. I think you’d like him,” She added thoughtfully. “He had the same response that you did.”

Ben was trying to calm himself. His mother had insisted he take anger management classes in addition to the therapy she’d convinced him to take after Cora’s mother’s betrayal. He was sorely testing himself and every method he’d learned to calm himself was failing at this moment. He knew it was absurd to feel so overprotective, but he couldn’t stop himself. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t stop imagining you as a seventeen-year-old hearing your guardian say such vile things. You must have felt so unsafe.”

Rey lifted one shoulder in a dismissive gesture. “You never really feel safe when you’re in the system. There are some great foster parents out there, I’m sure. I didn’t encounter any of them. And there’s always a fear that you’re going to come home and find out that you’re being relocated. It worked in my favor. I didn’t have many possessions to bring with me and I was always ready to pack and be gone in a moment’s notice.” 

Ben felt like the world’s biggest asshole. He’d had parents who’d loved him and provided a safe and steady home for him and he’d let some stupid teen angst stop him from enjoying the security of parents that loved him. 

“Honestly, I’d feel better if I could at least scare the bastard.”

Rey laughed. “He’d be pretty afraid of you. When you’re around Cora, you look like a sweet, doting father type, but right now you looked like you were ready to kick someone’s ass.”

Ben smiled and strode back over to the chair he’d knocked over and righted it. “I wanted to, but I shouldn’t do stuff like that anymore.”

Now that he was calmer, he felt stupid for his outburst, but Rey reached a hand out to him and he stood still, gazing into her eyes. 

“Thanks for being angry for me.”

There was something there again and Ben felt the impulse to kiss her, but he didn’t want to do it like this. Not when she was vulnerable and had just opened up about something that way she had; it wouldn’t be right. They stayed like that for a moment before Rey cleared her throat.

“It’s getting late. If I don’t get home soon Finn and Poe will worry about me.”

Ben nodded. “Let me walk you to your car.”

 

Ben savored his weekend with his daughter and obviously, Cora felt the same. He was happy to have time alone with his little girl and the sporadic texts he got from Rey throughout the weekend made him feel good. On Saturday evening, he got a series of pictures of her and Finn’s unsuccessful attempts to make pasta and a video of them, laughing and attempting to salvage the pasta which had inexplicably turned into mush. When he’d inquired as to whether she’d managed to get something edible, she’d revealed that Poe, Finn’s boyfriend, had saved them with Chinese food. Ben had felt a sense of longing with that, wishing that he could be the one to be the hero. He liked the idea of saving her from her own abysmal cooking skills. 

Cora was a joy. She was still teething but the pain was more bearable, it seemed. She was sleeping more regularly now that they were settled in the house more. On Sunday, Ben decided to try taking Cora with him to the grocery store again and she fell asleep in the car on the way there. Ben was marveling over the difference a week had made in his life while he was taking his time perusing the aisles. 

“Ben!” His heart soared as he immediately recognized the voice. Cora, who’d been avidly fascinated with the toes she’d exposed by ripping off her shoes and socks, stopped what she was doing, eyes wide. Ben looked in the direction of the voice and saw Rey coming toward him, two men trailing behind her. 

When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him in a greeting. They’d obviously broken the awkward touch barrier on Friday night and he enjoyed the feeling of closeness he was experiencing. 

“Taking Cora out grocery shopping again, huh?” Rey questioned, smiling at his daughter whose arms were outstretched. It felt completely natural for Rey to lean in, pick Cora up and give her a little cuddle and the little girl squealed in delight.

“Oh, hey, come meet my friends,” Rey said and she gestured to the two men who were standing slightly in the background. Ben allowed himself to be guided by the radiant woman holding his girl. The older man extended a hand first and Ben shook it gratefully. 

“I’m Poe,” he said, “and that one trying to not glare at you is Finn.”

The darker man frowned. “I’m not glaring. I’m just sizing him up a little.”

Ben didn’t laugh, but he wanted to when the Finn grumbled something that sounded like “He’s too damn tall” and he greeted him amicably. 

“It’s nice to meet you Finn. Rey’s told me a few things about you and I got to watch the pasta disaster unfold yesterday, so it’s nice to actually see you in person.”

Finn was obviously still on the fence, but Poe howled with laughter and clapped Ben on the shoulder. “The two of them could probably ruin microwavable tv dinners. Honestly, I don’t know how they survived without me saving them from their own abysmal cooking.”

Ben watched how Finn’s face softened when Poe laughed and by the time Poe was finished speaking, Finn was smiling, ducking his head slightly. 

“Hey, we do our best, but it helps to have you around.”

Poe smiled at Ben and casually draped an arm around Finn. “It does wonders for my self-esteem to be the savior all the time.”

Rey laughed and Cora imitated her giggle, making Ben smile and redirect his attention to the two of them. When he glanced back at the two men, he saw Finn watching him with a faint crease between his brows while Poe was grinning. He caught the older man’s gaze and Poe winked at him inclined his head toward Rey and arched an eyebrow. Ben immediately cursed his fair coloring as he felt the heat fill his cheeks and he cleared his throat. 

“So, what are you three up to?”

Rey responded quickly. “Poe is treating us to some junk food for a dumb movie night.”

“A college staple,” Ben replied with a grin and Poe’s bark of laughter drew his attention. 

“Except most of the time, students do that by themselves, they don’t invite a teacher with them.”

Ben was curious now and he could swear that Finn was blushing now. “Teacher?”

Rey laughed again and Cora gurgled with excitement. “Poe is a professor at the school. That’s how he and Finn met. Granted, Finn wasn’t in Poe’s class, but it still was a bit of a scandal.”

“Well,” Finn rejoined, “two years later and we’re still going strong, despite the circumstances of our meeting and the ten-year age difference.” 

Ben couldn’t help but draw a parallel between Finn and Poe and himself and Rey. It was eerily similar. 

Rey piped in, “I wish you could join us Ben. We’re in for a trilogy of bad horror movies. We’re planning on watching all three Hatchet movies. It’s going to be hilariously bad.” 

Ben was tempted, but considering Rey was his babysitter, it was probably a no go. “I wish I could come, but I’ve got Cora and we’re going to have a Daddy-Daughter night.” 

Rey’s eyes softened and she gave Cora a little kiss before handing her back to Ben, who she gave another quick hug to and a happy wave as they walked away, their cart comprised of nothing but cheap junk food. Ben headed to the baby food section and started loading up, absently. 

“She likes you.” 

Ben turned around and Poe was leaning casually against a shelf. 

“What?” 

“Rey likes you, but she’s having a hard time admitting it to herself. And you like her, but you’re probably wrapped up in the age difference and all the other bullshit. Let me save you some of the heartache I went through with Finn. Life is too short and if you find someone that you like, you should go for it. I could have had more months of happiness if I didn’t get so caught up in the potential problems. Instead, I made myself miserable. So take it from someone who’s been there: just tell her how you feel.”

The man turned to leave and paused, casually looking over his shoulder. “Oh yeah, but if you hurt her, Finn and I will kick your ass and blah, blah, blah.”

Ben spent the rest of his Sunday enjoying his time with his daughter and laughing at Rey’s texts describing the ridiculously bad movies she was watching. He went to bed that night thinking to himself that he would tell her how he felt Monday after he got off work. 

But then he went to work and every person he passed grew quiet when he walked by. Eventually, he found out why. Catherine had told everyone that he’d knocked Rey up when she was barely eighteen. The rumor had spread through his workplace like wildfire. Everyone was only too eager to believe the worst about the new guy who was professional at best, but curt and standoffish at his worst. And when he got home, he was too ashamed to even look Rey in the face.

How the fuck was he going to tell her what he’d done?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **I can't believe this story has over 200 kudos. Thank you so much. You guys are the best and I feel so lucky to have so much support.**   
>  **Now that the story is starting to round itself out, it has been suggested that I up the rating and eventually add smut, so I'd like to gauge the interest in that. As always, reviews are highly appreciated and if you want to drop a review that just says "NO SMUT" or "Yes, bring on the sin!" I'd love to see how you guys feel. Enjoy!**

Ben had a meeting with HR set up for Tuesday. On Monday evening, he received a few texts from Rey after she got off class. She was obviously concerned about him. He’d tried his best to make it seem like there was nothing wrong, but he was a terrible actor. His face was too expressive for him to be a good liar. The only way he could ever get away with being deceitful was if he somehow managed to hide his face and that was a little beyond his capabilities unless he wanted to pretend he was just really into the idea of starting Halloween a few weeks early. 

He wanted to come clean with her about the mess he made, but he also wanted to get it resolved first, so he waited and tried not to make his discomfort too painfully obvious, but excusing his mannerisms by telling a half truth: that work had been exceptionally difficult that day. He slept fitfully that night and he almost wished that Cora was restless so he could have a distraction from his own thoughts. As if were, he was staring at the ceiling and trying to force himself to sleep, knowing that he’d be a wreck tomorrow during the HR meeting if he didn’t get a few hours of rest.

He needed to join a gym. One of the few things that his old therapist had suggested that he’d really taken to immediately was using physical exertion as a medium for expressing some of anger he felt. Right now, he was angry as hell and wanting a fight. He knew that the situation he was in was at least partially his fault and that made him furious with himself. 

“This is why the only woman who’s stuck around for any length of time was just using you.”

The words hung in the air and Ben was surprised that he’d spoken aloud. He glanced at the clock and made a decision. It was 12:30 am, but if he called home he knew someone would answer.

The phone rang a few times and a deep voice answered. 

“Dad?”

“What the hell Ben? It’s late. Is Cora alright?”

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

There was a long pause on the other end and Ben pulled the phone away from his ear to see if his father had hung up on him. 

“Look kid, your mom is sick and I’m not gonna wake her up to talk to you so either tell me what’s going on or—”

“I fucked up.”

“I can relate to that. Bail money?”

“No,” Ben sighed. “It’s not like that.”

“Alright kid, what’s her name?”

Ben almost smiled. “How do you know it’s about a girl?”

Han laughed and Ben couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard his father even chuckle. “You’re a Solo. If you fucked up and you’re not in jail, then it’s about a girl.”

The story came tumbling out of Ben in a series of faltering sentences, a lot of backtracking and explaining and no small number of expletives. At the end, there was a moment of silence.

“I mean, it could be worse.”

Ben snorted. “My job could be at stake.”

“Nah, if anyone’s job is at stake, it’s that witch of a coworker of yours. You get that settled and all you have to do is decide whether you want to come clean to your babysitter or if you want to hide it.”

Ben’s brow furrowed. “This isn’t the type of thing I should hide, is it?”

“Kid, don’t ask me. The only reason your mom and I are still married is because she’s even more stubborn than I am.”

Ben considered what his father had said for a moment. “If I don’t tell her and she finds out, I’m pretty sure I’ll be screwed.”

Han grunted. “Yeah, that’s how it works.” He paused and cleared his throat. “You like her, don’t you?”

“I shouldn’t, but I do.”

“Wait, why the hell shouldn’t you like her?”

“She’s ten years younger than I am, Dad.”

“Your mom and I have the same age difference. The older you get, the less it counts.”

Ben was uncertain. “Wasn’t it weird when you first started dating though?”

“Honestly, the age difference was way less weird than the fact that your mom, from her rich, conservative family wanted to date someone like me. Even weirder that she wanted to marry me. If you like her and she likes you and you guys don’t want to kill each other after spending a ton of time together then that age difference will fix itself given enough time.”

“So, go for it?”

“That depends, she like cars?”

Ben genuinely laughed at that. “She fixes them in her spare time.”

“Marry her.”

Ben hung up a few minutes later, realizing as he settled back into bed that he’d just had one of the few phone conversations with his father that didn’t end in one of them yelling and hanging up. 

Rey was wearing the same beat up leather jacket today he’d seen her in ever since it had started to get cold. He was beginning to wonder if it was the only jacket she owned. Cora woke up before he got out the door so he was treated to getting to give his daughter, in Rey’s arms, a kiss goodbye. 

The meeting was at 10 am and Ben was ready. He was just going to be blunt (without being rude) and straightforward. Catherine was obviously annoyed and while Ben was informing the HR Rep of the hostile work environment that she’d created by spreading rumors, she huffed angrily. 

“I only told everyone the truth. That’s not spreading rumors.”

“Rey is not my daughter’s mother. I never said that she was. An assumption was made and it was incorrect.”

Catherine’s mouth opened and closed and she looked stunned. “You implied it! And I saw the three of you together and that baby is the spitting image of her. You’re lying to try to make yourself seem less unsavory!”

Ben bit his tongue and the HR Rep sighed. “You are not supposed to bring up peoples’ personal lives while at work; this is supposed to be a professional workplace. Frankly, the fact that you, as Ben put it, pestered him about trying to get you to join him for drinks after he made his indifference known it already grounds for reprimand, but what you’ve been telling your fellow coworkers raises the stakes a bit.”

Ben watched Catherine grow pale and even though he didn’t care for her, he did feel bad. 

The rep continued, “We’re going to have to launch a formal investigation into this case, but as for today, there needs to be a formal apology. Furthermore, we’re going to have to inform the office that the rumors being spread are false. I think it’s best if an apology is made and the both of you go home for the rest of the day. I will dispel the rumors.” 

Catherine looked like she’d sucked an especially tart lemon. She turned her body toward Ben’s and muttered an insincere apology before sweeping out of the room. Ben cocked an eyebrow at the rep and she sighed. 

“She’s the owner’s sister.”

On the drive home, Ben was elated. The situation was being taken care of and now all there was left to do would be to tell Rey. Considering he was heading home at just past noon, he could take care of that today and have plenty of time to explain the situation thoroughly to her. His music was loud and thudding in his ears and he was in a great mood. 

When he arrived home, it was to Rey on the couch with Cora balanced in her lap as she read to her from one of her engineering textbooks. Rey looked up, entirely startled to see Ben. 

“You’re home early!”

“I got to take a half day,” Ben replied, removing his heavy coat and scarf and hanging them on the coat rack. 

Rey smiled. “That’s fantastic! I’d suggest trying to take Cora to the park again, but I think it might be too cold.”

Ben nodded his agreement. “Have the two of you eaten yet?”

Rey shook her head. “After I got done with this page I was going to get her fed and down for a nap.”

“I can help with that,” Ben said cheerfully, and together they got Cora fed, cleaned up from eating, and in bed in about 20 minutes. Ben couldn’t help noticing how much easier parenting was with a second person. When Cora was successfully asleep, Ben offered to make lunch and Rey gratefully took him up on the offer. 

“I’ve been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a lot lately,” she confessed. “I should probably learn how to cook at some point, but I’m so bad at it that I’m afraid I’ll burn the apartment down.” 

Ben started getting ingredients for spaghetti together, deciding that a marinara with ground beef would leave more time for conversation than meatballs. As he was cooking, he noticed Rey watching him avidly.

“Anything wrong?” He asked her.

She seemed to shake herself. “No, it’s just…you are so tall and I keep expecting you to be awkward in some way, but everything you do seems to be graceful and smooth.”

“You haven’t seen me dance,” he told her. “I look like I’m being electrocuted. It’s not pretty.”

She laughed at that and they settled into a comfortable silence. He decided to let the sauce simmer for a while “to develop more flavor” her told her. Now was as good a time as any.

“I’m home early because I’m involved in a human resources case at work.”

Rey didn’t look surprised. Her brows creased slightly and she asked “Catherine?”

Ben nodded, took in a deep breath and came out with the rest of it. “After seeing the picture I have of you and Cora, she jumped to the conclusion that you are my girlfriend and Cora’s birth mother and I didn’t deny it, mostly because I wanted her to leave me alone, but partially because telling her that you weren’t either of those things might mean explaining about Cora’s mother and I really didn’t want to get into that. On Monday, I went into work to discover she’d run around and told all our coworkers that I’d gotten my girlfriend who could have potentially been underage at the time pregnant and that, basically, I was I was a predator.”

Rey’s face was the picture of surprise. “I figured she tried to kiss you or something and you complained. That’s…a lot worse. She’s a fucking nightmare.”

Ben’s lips quirked. That was the first time he’d heard Rey curse and somehow it seemed wrong given the soft voice and the pretty mouth it was coming from. “It wasn’t pleasant, but it seems like the HR Rep was on my side and very sympathetic, so it shouldn’t be an issue.” He glanced away, “I hope it’s not an issue for you.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I mean, it’s a little weird that she made the leap from one picture of me and Cora to you knocking me up while I was a minor but I understand why you let her believe I was your girlfriend.”

Ben kept feeling like this was way too easy. He really shouldn’t get out of this situation without anyone being mad at him. Before he could say anything to that effect, Rey’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, frowning. 

“It’s Finn, but he’s supposed to be in class right now. I’m sorry, do you mind?”

Ben shook his head and he watched her answer the phone, looking concerned. He only heard half of the conversation, but her voice and facial expression was enough for him to know that something was terribly wrong. She hung up and turned a pale, stricken face to him. 

“Finn wasn’t feeling well, so he didn’t go to class today and Unkar showed up at the apartment looking for me.” Rey was obviously trying not to show how upset she was, but as her breathing hitched and her breaths became shallower and more rapid, Ben quickly realized she was panicking. He rushed to her and wasn’t sure what to do other than take her into his arms. 

“He’s not supposed to know where I live,” Rey’s voice was faint and Ben was patting her back gently. “That was the point of leaving like I did. And he never knew Finn’s last name, so how did he find me?”

Ben felt her shaking and tightened his grip. “Come on, Rey. Let’s sit down.” He tried to let her go and guide her to the couch, but her knees gave way and before she could hit the ground, he grabbed her. Not knowing what else to do, he swept her up, bridal style and carried her to the couch, before setting her down and instructing her to put her head between her knees. 

“He can’t make me go with him,” Rey breathed out. “I won’t go.”

“You don’t have to. You’re an adult, he doesn’t have any say in what you do anymore.”

“He knows where I live! What’s going to stop him from coming after me?” Her voice was strangled and weak and Ben felt himself growing angry at the man who was reducing such a strong woman to tears and panicked fear. 

“Stay here. He doesn’t know where I live. Even if he figures it out, I’ll protect you. He won’t ever hurt you.”

She looked down and Ben saw a tear drip onto her worn jeans. “I can’t. Cora. What if he finds out I’m here and he comes here and Cora gets hurt? I would never forgive myself.”

Ben tilted her chin up and looked her in the eyes. “I’ll keep you both safe. That bastard won’t touch either of you.”

“Why? Why would you risk anything for me? You barely know me and I’m just your babysitter.”

Ben swallowed thickly. “Because you and Cora are the only reason I smile while I’m at work. Because I’ve saved every picture you’ve ever sent me. Because I like you and saying that makes me feel like I’m an awkward high schooler confessing to having his first crush, but I like you and I’m going to keep you safe because I can’t stand the idea of anyone hurting you and honestly I want to find your former guardian and beat him senseless because he’s making you cry but I can’t do that because I’m not in high school and when you’re an adult that’s assault.” 

Rey blinked. The few seconds between the end of his unexpected speech and her replying felt like an eternity. “You didn’t have your first crush until high school?”

“That’s what you got from that?” Ben asked, exasperatedly. 

“No, I’m just processing the rest of it,” Rey responded. 

“You don’t have to respond to any of it now. Just stay here until the Unkar situation is taken care of. Please.”

“Okay,” Rey said, and then she sniffed. Ben thought she was dealing with a runny nose and was looking around for tissue when she asked “Is lunch ready yet?”

Their lunch was quiet, but somehow still not awkward and Ben felt better now that all the cards were out on the table. He knew he hadn’t chosen the most opportune time to tell her how he was feeling, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. 

“Ben?” Rey said. He looked up and she looked calm. “I like you too.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **I think many of you will be pleased with the way things progress toward the end of this chapter. Enjoy!**

Ben didn’t show any outward reaction to what Rey told him other than a short nod and smiling down at his plate of spaghetti. He was already the guy trying to date his babysitter who was ten years his junior, he wasn’t also going to be the guy who initiated things while she was in a state of emotional vulnerability. As they ate in comfortable quiet, Ben couldn’t help noticing the slight quirk in Rey’s lips whenever their eyes met. He was also incredibly amused by the way she ate the food. She was unashamedly enthusiastic in her consumption and Ben could have sworn that at one point she might have had a spec of sauce around her eyebrow somehow. He wisely kept his mouth shut and didn’t laugh the way he might have under different circumstances. When she finished her plate, he reminded her there was still plenty and so he wasn’t surprised when she returned with another helping and a grin.

“It’s really good!” She insisted and Ben did laugh then. She joined in with his laughter. 

“Over the weekend when I have more time for preparation I’ll make you something really good.”

“Did your mother teach you how to cook?” Rey queried, a wistful note in her voice.

Ben snorted. “I love my mother, but she is not a good cook. She always had more important things to do. We ate out a lot.” Rey’s face was still a little pink, a left over from her panic attack. “I took a couple of classes when I almost burned down my first apartment. My roommate insisted on it and after I stupidly overestimated the time microwave popcorn takes to cook and tried to dispose of the thing while it was somehow still ablaze and the trashcan went up in flames, he bought classes for me.”

“Wait, did you really try to throw something away while it was still on fire?” Rey sounded exasperated and Ben shrugged.

“Look, I never said I was a smart college student. There’s a huge difference between being educated and being smart. I’m still learning how to be smart.”

There was another brief stint of silence with a touch more tension to it before Rey started talking.

“I ate a lot of frozen and canned food growing up. It’s still hard adjusting to the fact that food has real texture and flavor.” She lifted her fork to her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “There were also a lot of times when I didn’t get fed at all. Unkar kind of took the mentality of ‘Food is earned’ and if I didn’t do a good enough job at whatever task he gave me, I didn’t eat. It’s how I learned to fix cars. He constantly had a rotation of half a dozen old clunkers that he would routinely instruct me to get running after one thing or another broke in them.”

With each thing Ben learned about her guardian, he considered the idea of cornering the man a more and more viable idea. 

“How the hell were you not removed from his custody?” Ben’s voice was hot and angry and Rey arched a brow.

“There are always too many kids in the system and not enough people willing to foster them.” When Rey shrugged, it looked a lot more elegant than Ben suspected his had. “I was older when I entered the system. The chances of me being adopted were low. People want babies, maybe toddlers, but they don’t want to adopt a girl who, in a few short years, would undoubtedly become a hormonal teenager.”

Rey was clearly getting agitated and she prodded at the food remaining on her plate with much less enthusiasm. 

“He’s not getting near you, Rey.” She looked up and into his eyes at that assertion. 

“I don’t know if you can stop him.”

“Trust me,” and he knew the smile that spread across this face was darkly grim, “He’s not getting past me.”

 

That evening Poe and Finn came by with clothes and Rey’s textbooks. Finn hung around awkwardly while Poe made himself comfortable, forgoing the proffered handshake for a firm, back slapping hug and Ben tried to conceal the sting that the embrace caused. Cora was in her highchair, eyes wide while she surveyed the happenings. Poe made a beeline for her.

“Do you mind if I hold her?” He questioned, stopping just short of the high chair and immediately starting a game of peekaboo to Cora’s happy, shrieking amusement. 

“Go right ahead,” Ben responded, trying not to laugh as he grabbed the suitcase Poe and unceremoniously plopped on the floor. He looked to Rey who was jabbing an elbow into Finn’s side while Poe eagerly cuddled Cora to him, loudly extolling her beauty. Finn looked like a cross between annoyed and fond while he watched the older man coo to her as Cora laughed happily. 

“Finn,” Poe started, never taking his eyes from Cora, “Can we have a baby?”

Finn rolled his eyes, “We agreed that we’d wait until after I graduated and got a job that doesn’t require sorting through fruits.”

Poe turned beseechingly toward them, finally looking away from Cora to fix his dark eyes on Finn. “But isn’t she the most beautiful little thing you’ve ever seen?” 

Ben knew what was coming. When Poe turned to look at them Cora’s eyes had lighted on his hair and had gone round. As he spoke, her hands reached toward the dark curls and as is she was trying to prove him wrong, she wound her little fingers into his tresses and pulled with enough strength that the man’s head was yanked to the side.

Ben didn’t laugh, or even smile, simply lazily leaned against the wall, and casually tossed out the words “Careful, she’s a hair puller” while Rey and Finn dissolved into peals of laughter. Poe was clearly embarrassed, but he gently pried his hair from Cora’s grasp and repositioned her further away from his hair. 

“So’s Finn,” he responded and Finn immediately stopped laughing while Rey nearly doubled over, tears streaming from her eyes. 

“That’s not funny, Poe” Finn retorted, crossing his arms.

“It’s a little funny,” Ben replied and after a beat, Finn’s stance softened and the younger man sighed.

“Okay, it was funny. But I think we broke Rey.”

It was then that Ben looked at Rey who was no longer laughing, but was still doubled over. Concern filled him and he gently set the suitcase down and went to her. 

“Hey, you okay?” Rey straightened and he saw that the tears on her face, which started out as tears of mirth were still running down her cheeks. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been an emotional day. I’m just trying to get myself together. I think I need a minute.”

Finn brushed past him gently and wrapped Rey in an embrace. “It’s going to be okay. We’re working on getting a restraining order and Unkar doesn’t know where you are.” As he held her, Finn turned his head to Ben and the look on his face was genuine gratitude. “Thank you for letting Rey stay here.”

“Of course,” Ben said, but the words felt cold on his lips. Rey settled into Finn’s arms easily and Ben felt useless as her friend held her while she cried. “I’m going to take the Rey’s things into her room.” Ben added, and he easily carried both her backpack and suitcase through the living room and down the hall. The guest room was across the hall from his own room and as he glanced around it, he silently thanked his mom for insisting it was fully furnished despite Ben’s assertion that it would very rarely be used. 

He set her bags down and sat on the edge of the bed. Rey was going to be staying here with him. This was not the context he had hoped for, but the most important thing was the she was safe. There was a shape in the doorway, blocked the light in the hallway and Ben looked up, hoping it would be Rey. 

Finn was silhouetted in the door frame and the man took a tentative step in the room, glancing around nervously. 

“This is a lot nicer than Rey’s room at our place” Finn observed. “She may not want to come back.” The words rung hollow and Ben didn’t know what to say. Finn sighed. “I’m sure you think that I don’t like you, and that’s a little true but I like you more now.”

“Why don’t you like me?” To Ben’s ears the words sounded plaintive, reminding him of himself as a child, trying to discover why all his classmates avoided him.

“It’s nothing to do with you personally” Finn replied. “Rey is like my sister and you’re obviously interested in her and I don’t like it. It’s selfish, but I like being the person she turns to in her time of need. If things develop between you two, that might not be the case anymore.” Finn pulled a face. “And I know I can’t talk about the age difference considering I’m in the same boat, but you’re a lot older than her. How am I supposed to know you’re not just going to use her and hurt her?”

“I’m not. I guess you can’t know it for sure, but I don’t want to hurt her.”

Finn looked at him and his eyes bore into Ben’s “Don’t you dare. She’s been through too much already. She deserved some happiness.”

Ben nodded. “I agree completely.” 

“I just can’t believe Unkar is back in her life. I don’t understand why he won’t just leave her alone.”

Ben’s mouth was a firm line before he spoke again. “If he comes around again, tell me where he is and I’ll make him leave her alone.”

Finn’s look was appraising. “You probably could too. Maybe if you showed up the next time he did, he wouldn’t be so eager to come back. No offense or anything, but right now you look like someone I wouldn’t want to run into.”

Ben looked down at himself. He was sitting on a baby blue damask quilt in a suit. He gestured toward himself “What about me right now says scary?”

“You look like you want to kill someone.” Finn replied. Ben nodded and stood up abruptly. 

“You hungry? I can order some pizza.”

Finn smiled at him and Ben was surprised by how much a smile changed the younger man’s face. “Hell yes.”

 

Rey put Cora to bed while the three men were still arguing over what toppings to get and when they finally settled on it, Poe tried to give Ben some cash to chip in. Ben politely turned it down.

“You treated them to bad movie night, it’s my turn to feed the college students.” The older men shared a laugh while Finn sputtered and Rey, emerging from the hallway in pajama pants and a t-shirt smiled sweetly. 

“You could always let me cook for us,” she commented, her tone like sugar and the three men immediately reassured her that it was unnecessary until she burst into laughter. 

Dinner was easy and Ben found himself really starting to enjoy Finn and Poe’s company. It was easy for him to see why Rey was so close to the two of them and it made his own former friendships feel even more empty. By the end of the night when the two left Ben was sad to see them go. Poe gave him another slightly too hard hug/smack on the back combo and Finn shook his hand, a vast improvement over the glaring of their previous goodbye and then it was just Rey and Ben.

It should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. It didn’t seem to ever be awkward with the two of them. After they’d both showered, separately, and brushed teeth, they decided to watch a movie before bed and Ben hardly paid attention to what was happening on the television because he was too focused on the way that Rey was curled up next to him. They’d started out sitting next to each other the way they might normally, but Rey, saying she was cold, leaned into Ben until he wrapped one arm around her. That turned into Rey’s head against his chest while he held her and finally she got up and added the throw into the equation, wrapping them both in it as best she could while they settled back into their close cuddle. 

The movie was supposed to be good, but all Ben could think of was how she smelled faintly of flowers and sunshine and he wondered how that was possible, given how cold it had been lately, that Rey could smell like summertime. His hand was gently stroking her arm and she snuggled in closer, yawning slightly.

“Are you tired?” Ben asked, looking down at her. 

“A little,” she replied. “It’s been a long day. I emailed my professors and told them the situation and how the police are involved and they told me to take the rest of the week off and that I could make it up when the issue is resolved. It’s exhausting to have to hash through everything repeatedly.” She yawned again and Ben paused the movie.

“Do you want to call it a night?” Ben asked.

“I’m really comfortable here,” Rey replied and Ben smiled. 

“Maybe, but if you sleep like that you’re going to feel distinctly uncomfortable tomorrow.” She groaned and sat up, the blanket trailing off her shoulders. 

“Alright, bed time it is.” She stood up and stretched and a sliver of her warm, tanned skin showed where her shirt rode up. Ben watched her avidly, drinking her in. She rubbed her eyes a little and looked down at him, extending a hand to help him up. He turned off the television with the remote and took her proffered hand, surprised by the actual strength he felt when she pulled him up. 

He let Rey walk ahead of him first and he turned off lights as they went until they got to the end of the hall and Rey turned to him with a half-smile gesturing behind herself to the open door.

“This is me, I guess,” she said and she didn’t move as if she was waiting for something. There was tension in the air and Ben swallowed thickly. 

“Yeah, it is,” he replied gruffly. He felt stupid and he wanted to retreat. Before he could turn to go Rey smiled up at him sweetly.

“Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” 

Ben stood there awkwardly for a moment, staring at Rey who was slightly disheveled and clearly tired. He should wait, tell her than it might be better to do this at another time, and yet he felt himself take a step forward. 

The height difference was a little awkward. Ben had to bend down, but as he brushed his lips against hers, it was incredibly worth it. He intended to kiss her softly and bid her goodnight, but her arms wound around his neck and her hands found her way into his hair and suddenly she was pressing into him and it wasn’t a soft kiss anymore. His hands found the hem of her shirt and he pressed them gently against her back, her warm skin feeling like silk. Her hands tightened in his hair and he felt the wall pressing against his hands and he knew that she was pressed up against the wall next to the open door. 

He broke away for a moment, his breathing heavy and he looked down at her. Her lips were swollen and she was looking at him with a slight smile. He pulled one hand from her back and ran a thumb over her bottom lip before grazing her jaw gently with his fingers and bending down to kiss her again. By the time the second kiss ended, she was pressed flush against him and he was quickly losing his hold on his self-control so he let her go with a whispered goodnight before retreating into the darkness of his room. He wasn’t sure how long it would be before she felt like she could return safely to her home, but he selfishly found himself wishing she wouldn’t go back too soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Just a quick warning, there's prophylactics mentioned in this chapter toward the end. For those of you wanting smut, that will be coming within the next few chapters, so I will be changing the rating accordingly. For anyone who doesn't want smut, I will be making an author's note at the beginning of the chapter and will let you know at what point you should stop reading. If it's an issue for anyone, I will happily put in an asterisk at the beginning and ending of those scenes so you can see without having to read what parts to skip.**   
>  **As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all the love you've shown this story!**

When Ben woke up the next morning, it was to the smell of fresh coffee. He stumbled out of bed, still shirtless and wandered toward the source. Rey was still delightfully disheveled and stirring a cup of coffee with a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Ben watched her and a rush of contentment filled him. The way it felt to have her staying with him compared to the way it felt when Cora’s mom was living with him made Ben even more uncomfortably aware of just how false everything had been with her. Even after months of living together, she’d have never been like this: sweet and lovely in pajamas that were far too large with truly atrocious bedhead. Rey filled him with warmth and light and made him happy.

That was really it. When he was around her he was just happy. With Cora, he was happy but there was also a savage need to protect her from anything that might hurt her, but Rey made him feel the kind of happiness that made him want to slow down and relax in the feeling. 

When she turned to face him, she was obviously startled. She’d clearly not heard the padding of his feet down the hallway. She smiled and looked away and he noticed the furious flush creeping across her cheeks and he grinned. 

“You made coffee,” he said. He knew his voice was still husky from sleep and the sound of it somehow seemed to embarrass her more. 

“It’s hard to mess coffee up,” Rey remarked, lifting the cup to her mouth. “There’s plenty still in the pot if you’d like some. I’m not the best at breakfast, but I can make toast with the best of them.” She was still blushing and Ben wondered why until she cast a look at him and he realized it was because he was shirtless. 

“I can put on a shirt,” he offered, but Rey quickly shook her head. “No?”

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to do things differently just because I’m here. I don’t want to be an inconvenience.” Rey was glancing down at her coffee cup when she said this and Ben frowned.

“You’re not an inconvenience. I’m happy to have you here.” Rey looked back up at him and he nodded firmly. “It’s nice to have you around. Sometimes it gets a little lonely. Cora’s great, but having someone that answers you when you have a question is pretty great.”

Rey’s face broke into a smile. “How do you take your coffee?”

“Black is fine,” he responded and Rey pulled a face. “What?”

“How can you drink coffee like that? It’s so good with cream and sugar and so terrible just plain.”

Ben shrugged, taking the proffered cup and sipping at it. “It’s how my dad drank his coffee. I guess I just assumed that’s how men drank their coffee and so that’s how I did it.”

Rey arched a brow. “Life is a hell of a lot easier when you put sugar in your coffee.”

Ben grinned and deliberately took a large gulp of his coffee and Rey shuddered. 

“Here,” she said, holding her cup out to him. “Try mine.”

He didn’t want to disappoint her, so he took a small sip. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t taste like coffee to him. It did, however, have the added benefit of being Rey’s coffee and he might have enjoyed it more because she offered it to him. He passed it back, admitting it wasn’t bad, and stretched. 

She was watching him avidly, he noticed, attributing her interest to the fact that he was still shirtless and so he stretched a little longer and further than he needed to, just because. 

“Toast?” Rey’s voice was quavering a little and Ben felt satisfied. 

“I’d like to shower again before I go to work,” he replied. 

“Well,” Rey started. “I’m pretty sure I can manage to have it ready for you after the shower. And I keep hearing that breakfast is important for people, so you should have something at least.”

He agreed amicably and finished his coffee before taking a quick, warm shower. Getting ready for work when he knew there was someone else in the house felt stranger than he remembered it being. He suddenly felt an urge to ask her which tie to wear and he clamped down on it, deciding that the idea was a little too domestic. After he was fully dressed and he only had a few minutes before he had to leave, he joined her in the kitchen again and was pleasantly surprised that she had not just made him toast, but had discovered his large traveler’s coffee cup and had helpfully filled it up for him. He made quick work of his little breakfast and was ready to head out the door right on time. He was halfway to his car before he paused and went back into the house. Rey was sitting at the dining room table, a textbook already cracked open, toast and coffee pushed to the side. She looked up when he entered, questioningly. He strode over to her and quickly pressed a kiss to her temple before turning back around to walk out the door. 

“Have a great day,” she called after him. His drive to work felt much improved by his high spirits. 

Throughout his workday, he got little done. Between texting Rey every few minutes to ensure that she and Cora were safe, and the flood of coworkers “just dropping by” he was constantly distracted. He knew that his coworkers were trying to apologize in their own way by coming by to chat with him and a couple swung by around noon to invite him to come with them for lunch, but he politely declined and video chatted with Rey and Cora during his break instead. 

Catherine, he’d discovered, had been suspended for an uncertain amount of time. Everyone who was talking about it was certain that she’d be let go, but Ben wondered if they knew her connection to the company’s owner. Regardless, he was happy that she was at least temporarily out of his life. 

As his mind was apt to do, it turned to Rey and Cora. The last video Rey had sent him had been of Cora crawling to where she was sprawled across the floor with her schoolwork and very seriously snatching the pen out of Rey’s hand. Rey’s proclamation “She’s been doing this all day!” was followed by laughter and Ben smiled when he’d watched it, happy that Rey was distracted. 

At 3, he got a text from an unknown number that turned out to be Poe. He’d gotten his number from Rey’s phone, which he’d snuck away from her without her realizing it on their movie night, he explained. He then informed Ben that Finn and Rey’s apartment had been broken into while Finn was at work and it was obvious that Unkar had been behind it. The man hadn’t done much damage, nor had he stolen much, but there was a picture in Rey’s room that had gone missing. 

_What picture?_ Ben texted, a sick feeling pooling in his stomach. The fact that the man had stolen a picture at all made him uneasy. 

_That’s why I’m texting you. It was a picture of Rey and Cora. Finn says that Rey told him that you took it and Rey thought it was cute and she wanted a print of it._

Ben knew it had to be the one from the first day. He was torn between anger over the fact that the despicable man now had a picture of his daughter and being a little pleased that Rey had liked the picture so much she wanted to have it in her room.

_Finn thinks that Unkar might believe that Cora is Rey’s. There’s no way that he’d know where the two of them are, but I wanted to keep you in the loop._

Ben was about to respond when another text came in.

_Don’t tell Rey. I think she’d freak out if she knew Unkar had a picture of her._

He texted his agreement and pocketed his phone. In two hours he could go home, so he needed to focus on getting some work done so the day wouldn’t be a complete waste. 

Those last two hours dragged on, feeling longer than the first 7 had. When 5 o’clock finally rolled around, Ben eagerly packed his briefcase up and left, ready to get home. On the drive home, he called Rey and they talked about inconsequential things like her homework and how Cora had, after stealing Rey’s pen yet again, flung it hard enough that Rey had to spend nearly ten minutes trying to relocate it while the girl laughed. 

The drive home, never too long, was made shorter still by Rey’s happy conversation and when Ben pulled into the driveway, he was ready to hold his daughter. 

Rey greeted him at the door. His daughter was wrapped up in a blanket and she cooed happily when Ben took her from Rey’s arms. During the small amount of time between entering his home with Cora in tow and closing the door behind him, Ben thought he heard a noise, but when Rey leaned up to kiss his cheek, he was distracted. 

They had a lovely night together. Ben and Rey played with Cora until she shrieked with laughed and by the time she’d eaten dinner, she was so worn out from their attention she could barely keep her eyes open. After they put her to bed, they had their own dinner, a much quieter, affair than Cora’s had been.

Ben told Rey about his coworkers’ sudden desire to speak to him and about Catherine being suspended and he laughed over the savage joy she expressed over that news. They cleaned the kitchen together and Rey “accidently” sprayed Ben with water. Ben, his shirt soaking wet, decided the best revenge was to insist she hug him for an apology and she tried, and failed to avoid him.

“It’s unfair,” she said, her shirt now wet too. “You have a twelve-foot wingspan. You’re a pterodactyl. How am I supposed to be able to avoid you?”

“You’re not,” Ben said ostensibly. “So, I guess you either have to avoid spraying me with water or accept the consequences of also being wet.”

Rey rolled her eyes, and then smiled in a wicked way that made Ben uncomfortable. In one smooth motion, she pulled her shirt off and Ben got a glimpse of her toned, smooth stomach and bra before she turned her back to him and took off down the hall, casually announcing that it was too cold to wear a wet top. 

“Fuck,” Ben muttered to himself. “I guess she won that argument.”

He took her cue and changed into warm, dry clothes, wondering if she was going to stay in her room for the rest of the night. He walked down the hall and poked his head into the living room to find Rey curled up on the couch, clearly waiting for him and so he joined her. 

“We have two options,” Rey intoned while he settled himself. “Option A, we start the movie that neither of us was really paying attention to last night over and seriously try to watch it.”

Ben nodded. “Option B?”

Rey didn’t look at him. “Option B is we start it back where it was before and instead of actually watching it, we pretend we’re paying attention for about five minutes and then spend the rest of it doing the same thing we did last night.”

Ben’s lips pulled up in a smile. “What we did last night on the couch, cuddling but not really watching the movie or what we did last night in the hallway?”

“The second one,” Rey responded, still not looking at him. 

He leaned in closer to her, his breath warm on her ear. “It’s supposed to be a really good movie” he whispered and he watched as she shifted in her seat. “But, I’m leaning a little more towards Option B”. 

Rey said nothing, but he noticed she selected ‘Resume Playing’ rather than ‘Play From Beginning’. Within minutes, the movie was completely forgotten as they kissed. Rey’s hands were in his hair again and she was tugging at it gently and Ben wrapped his hands around her waist and easily shifted her from half on top of him to straddling him. When he broke away from the kiss several minutes later, she was panting and pressed against him. He trailed gentle kisses across her jaw and then down her throat and when he pressed his lips against the spot where her neck and her shoulder met, she let out a strangled gasp and Ben had to stop himself from smirking in satisfaction. He concentrated his efforts there and within seconds she was writhing and whimpering.

A sudden, loud shriek interrupted their interlude and Rey bolted up out of his lap, her face flushed and Ben realized with sluggishly that Cora was screaming. 

“I’ve got it,” he told her and he started on his way to Cora’s room. 

She was fine, he quickly realized. She’d awoken from her sleep and wanted to make her displeasure over that fact known, loudly. Within minutes he’d soothed her enough to lull her back to sleep. 

When he got to the living room, Rey was still standing. As he drew nearer to her, he took in the sight of her, her hair wild, her lips rosy and swollen from kissing and he saw a dark smudge on her neck where he’d been kissing her. 

“I think I might have gone a bit overboard,” he remarked softly, trailing a finger gently across the bruise.

“Oh, shit,” Rey murmured. “Did you leave a mark?”

Ben hummed softly. “A small one. I didn’t mean to,” he clarified. 

“Well, I’m going to get hell about it from Finn and Poe the next time I see them. Poe especially lives to tease.”

Ben smiled, trailed his hand down her arm and gently tugged on her hand. She came willingly. 

“As much as I’d like to continue,” Ben said, “It’s probably better if we stop now before we go too far.”

“I’m okay with going further,” Rey responded quickly. 

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Another time,” he said. 

“If that’s what you want,” Rey replied slowly. “But don’t do it because you’re trying to be gallant or something.”

Ben laughed at that. “That’s definitely not what I’m trying to do, Rey. I’m thinking of practicalities.” She looked confused for a moment and Ben sighed softly. “I don’t have condoms.”

Her confusion disappeared immediately, replaced with something akin to relief. “Oh! Oh, that makes a lot more sense.”

“We should head to bed,” Ben replied and Rey nodded and paused.

“Maybe you could head by a store after work tomorrow?” Rey intoned and Ben smiled. 

“I can do that.”

Ben kissed Rey on the temple again when he bid her goodnight. He didn’t trust that another kiss like the one they’d shared earlier today wouldn’t end in one of the two readily available beds and he resigned himself to another night where the first hour alone in bed would be spent wishing Rey was with him. 

He’d only been asleep for a few minutes when he heard his bedroom door open. He sat upright in his bed and switched the light on immediately. Rey was on the threshold of her door, her eyes wide and wild. 

“I think I heard something outside,” she whispered loudly. “What if it’s Unkar?”

Ben got out of Bed quickly and ushered her silently into Cora’s room. “Stay here,” he told her. At the end of the hall was a small closet and Ben pulled it open and slid a baseball bat out of it. He didn’t play, but it was an effective tool for home defense and he wasn’t a fan of guns, especially with a child in the house. 

He stalked around his home and found no one skulking in the shadows, but he still felt uneasy. When he was convinced that there was certainly no one lurking he went back into his home and double checked that every door and window was locked. 

Rey was standing in the middle of Cora’s room where he left her and he guided her out, baseball bat still in hand. 

“I didn’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone. Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Should we call the police?”

Ben shook his head. “They wouldn’t bother to come out. There’s no intruder and no real proof there was one, so they’d just see it as a waste of time.”

He saw her hesitance and so, instead of leading her back to his own room, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his. 

“Stay with me tonight. It’ll help if you don’t feel so alone.”

She gratefully slipped under the covers and he propped the baseball bat against his bedside table and slid in beside her. It felt completely normal for her to lay her head on his chest and within a few short minutes, he heard her breathing even out and all the tension leave he as she drifted off into sleep. Not long after, he joined her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This one was a biggie and a little more draining to write than the other chapters, for whatever reason. For anyone who would like to skip smut, chapter 11 will be nothing but smut. There will be no real plot development and if you skip the entire chapter, all you will be skipping is sex. I'll try to have chapter 12 up within 12-24 hours of chapter 11 being up so you don't feel like you have to wait extra long for another chapter just because you don't want to read smut.**
> 
>  
> 
> **For those of you wanting smut, chapter 11 will be posted by Tuesday at the latest.**
> 
>  
> 
> **As always, enjoy!**

Ben’s alarm blared loudly and he jerked awake. The woman still draped across his chest stirred lazily. He smiled down at her and that smile turned into a full-blown laugh when he saw the state of her hair. He’d thought she had bed hair the morning before, but she’d obviously tamed it before wandering into the kitchen yesterday. It was a riotous mess and the way half of it was sticking up made it obvious that there was more than one large knot tangling it. 

“What?” she murmured, her eyes still cloudy with sleep. “What’s funny?”

“Well,” Ben drew the word out while she blinked blearily, trying to wake up, “you’ve got some pretty incredible bed head.”

She nuzzled him softly and then yawned, sat up, and started stretching languorously. “You’re not one to talk.” She slid out of bed and he heard her exhale sharply when her feet touched the cold hardwood floor. “I am in desperate need of a huge amount of caffeine.”

Ben yawned. “If I treat, would you be willing to make a Starbucks run?” 

“God, yes,” Rey replied. She walked to the window and peered out. At first, Ben thought she might be looking around for a potential intruder, his thoughts still consumed by the panic of last night, but she sighed and turned around. “It’s mid-October and ground is already icy. It’s going to be freezing.” 

Ben watched her trail her fingertips down the windowpane gently before pulling her hand back and blowing warmth onto the skin. “You’ll have to wear something a little heavier than that leather jacket of yours.”

She shifted uncomfortably and very casually said “Coats are expensive. The jacket was inherited from Finn after he stole half of Poe’s wardrobe. I’ve been managing.”

Ben frowned and Rey tossed a smile over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. He immediately went to his closet and tried to find a coat that wouldn’t drown her completely. 

In the end, he tucked her into one of his black pea coats that dwarfed her completely and looked ridiculous with the cheery yellow and obviously hand knit beanie, but it soothed his mind knowing that she’d be warm. 

Ben took a shower and shaved as quickly as he could, hissing when he felt himself nick the sensitive skin on his jaw when he was startled by the abnormally loud buzz of his phone. Cursing, he realized he’d placed it on the marble countertop and the sound was amplified when it vibrated its way next to the shaving cream can. He pressed a hand towel to the cut and opened the text from Rey.

_The line is long, it may take me longer than I thought to get back._

Ben told her to take her time and made his way into Cora’s room. She was sleeping peacefully and he stood over her, watching her even breaths for a few minutes, a smile on his face. His hair was nearly dry now and he rummaged through his fridge, locating an apple. He'd wandered into the dining room and was in the middle of his first bite when he happened to glance through the window in the living room that faced the street and saw the unfamiliar car parked across the street. 

An unfamiliar _occupied_ car. Ignoring the fact that he was in slacks and an undershirt without either shoes or socks, Ben placed the apple he was holding on the dining table, hurried to the front door and yanked it open. He didn’t bother to close it behind him and instead stalked toward the car. The man inside clearly hadn’t noticed him yet. He was looking down and through the glass Ben could see some of his vague features. He was balding and round and as Ben got closer and the man turned his head toward him, Ben suddenly felt better about his own nose when compared to the man’s squashed, misshapen one. He saw the bright look of recognition, but before the man could move, he was on the car, pulling the door open with such force the metal groaned. 

There was a fleeting look of fear on the man’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a curled lip derision. Before Ben could physically pull him out of the car, the man’s great bulk shifted and he heaved himself out of the seat. When he pulled himself up to his full height, Ben felt a mild satisfaction with the proof that he was several inches taller and he made a point of glaring down his nose at him.

“Unkar Plutt, I presume.”

“Yeah, that’s right, and just who the hell are you?”

Ben’s shoulders stiffened. “That’s none of your fucking business,” he snarled. “You’re parked in front of my house, harassing someone I know.” Ben leaned in closer, viciously satisfied when the man tried to take a step back, found there was no space and stumbled slightly. “You need to get the fuck out of here and leave Rey alone.”

“Yeah? And what’s that little whore mean to you anyway?”

In an instant, he had the man by the collar and dragged him away from the open door to crash him against the rear door. He saw real, avid fear in the man’s eyes then and watched the way the color drained from sallow, pudgy face. 

“Don’t you dare,” his voice was hot and low. “Don’t go to her apartment. Don’t come here. Don’t come around her. Don’t even think about her.” He released the man and watched with satisfaction as his knees buckled slightly. “I don’t ever want to see you again.” 

Unkar tried to straighten himself up to his fullest height and he was clearly trying to make himself seem more intimidating. 

“What if I don’t? What are you going to do about it?”

“Oh, try it” Ben growled. “Please. It’s been a while since the last time I beat the shit out of someone.”

Plutt held his hands up and slid toward the open door of his car. Ben watched him, not pressing him any further and the man sat, jostling the car. Before he shut the door, he turned to Ben.

“Just because you knocked the bitch up doesn’t mean you own her.”

Ben felt the pain in his hand before he realized what he’d done. He watched in fascination as Unkar’s nose starting pouring blood and it took a moment to connect the dots between his hand’s aching knuckles and the man’s clearly broken nose. He heard the car’s engine roar to life and had just enough time to back out of the way as the man peeled out, driver’s side door still open. He narrowly avoided having his toes run over and he watched dispassionately as the car sped out of sight, the door finally getting yanked shut when the car was several houses down the street. 

The adrenaline was coursing through him as he strode back into his home. The whole confrontation had taken less than five minutes, but Ben was shaking with anger. He almost wished that the bastard would show his face again so he could smash it in. 

His pulled the front door shut behind him carefully, despite how much he wanted to slam it. His hand was radiating pain, a reminder of his rash action. He went to the kitchen sink and turned it on, putting his bruised hand under the running water and taking in deep even breaths to calm himself. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on something other than the seething rage building inside him. 

He heard the door open and he turned off the water and quickly dried his hand. Just as he was putting the towel back on the oven handle, Rey bustled her way into the kitchen, Starbucks cups in hand. 

“That took forever!” She laughed, handing over his cup. He took it from her in his left hand, not wanting her to see the purple skin already forming on the right. He took a sip, not really needed the caffeine anymore, but not wanting Rey to suspect anything was out of the ordinary. 

“You know,” he said, leaning toward her with a smile, “you look pretty good in that coat.”

She ducked her head and he saw the faint flush creep up her cheeks. “You probably need to finished getting ready for work,” she said, avoiding his eyes. 

Ben glanced at the oven clock and saw that she was right. He leaned in to kiss her forehead and Rey leaned into the kiss. His lips quirked when he saw the satisfied smile she had. 

 

When Ben got to work, he texted Poe, giving him an update about what had happened that morning. He happily noted that Catherine was still absent and tried to focus his energy into getting through the mound of work he had piling up. By lunch, he’d managed to catch up on most of the work he’d neglected over the past few days and he took a few minutes to catch up with Rey. 

Judging by the way she seemed to chat happily with him about the little things Cora was doing all day, Unkar had not made another appearance. Ben wanted to regret punching him, but it had felt so spectacularly good and appeared to be much more effective than words alone. 

Around one, a coworker popped by his office and cheerily chatted with him about the weather. Feeling inspiration strike, he asked her where she got her winter coats and she happily informed him that there was a small, reasonably priced boutique not far from them and Ben took down the information and thanked her. He now had two stops to make after work. 

Just thirty minutes before he was due to leave, Ben was called into the human resources department. The rep who’d mediated for him and Catherine was there to inform him that Catherine was no longer an employee and that the company owner wanted to extend a personal apology for what had happened. When he left, it was with a lightness in his step that hadn’t been there that morning. In Ben’s estimation, two of the biggest problems in his life had been solved in one day and now he had his incredible daughter and a beautiful woman waiting for him to come home. 

After a quick reminder text to Rey that he had a stop to make after work, he started to drive to the store his coworker told him about. It was small, but well stocked and Ben found what he wanted relatively quickly and was frowning over the sizes when a sales associate came up to help him. Ben explained the situation and spend a frustrating several minutes trying to describe Rey’s stature and build before they settled on a coat that looked impossibly small in Ben’s estimation, which he knew probably made it the right size. 

His next stop was quicker, but somehow more awkward. He didn’t understand how he, as a nearly thirty-year-old man, still felt unbelievably uncomfortable buying condoms. It felt like the entire store, which was relatively empty, was watching him walk up to the front. He was absolutely certain his face was red when the cashier rang him up and he vowed that one of these days he was going to be able to do this without feeling like an ass. He sent Rey another quick text to let her know he was on his way home and he settled in for the drive, music pumping through the speakers. 

The music was quickly interrupted by ringing and Ben glanced down at his phone and saw Poe’s name displayed. 

“Hello?” Ben answered, a little unsure as to why Poe would be calling when their communication had been previously limited to texting. 

“Ben, hey. It’s Poe. So, I’m thinking that it might be a good idea for you to keep Rey around the house as much as possible in the next couple of days. I just found out that Unkar went running around Rey’s school trying to find her. He was restrained by campus security, but he didn’t hurt anyone so they had to let him go. I think you made him angry this morning.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair. “Well, shit, that wasn’t my intention.”

“Don’t stress about it, man. I’d have loved to see the look on his face when popped him one. I’m just giving you a warning. He’s on the warpath. Keep Rey and Cora close to home and make sure the doors are always locked.”

“Got it,” Ben replied. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“We still don’t know how dangerous he is. So far, he’s just been a nuisance, but Finn’s told me some stuff that Rey’s told him and I’m just worried. The man’s got a fixation on her and I’m just not sure how far he’s willing to go.”

Ben clutched the steering wheel tightly in his hands. “He won’t get a chance to go far. That’s what I’m here for.”

Poe let out a low, amused chuckle. “Taking my suggestion to heart then?”

“Yeah, I am,” Ben replied.

“Good. Take care of our girl. I have to go, my next class is starting.”

“Thanks for the call. We should all get together again soon.”

“Definitely. I’ll text you.”

As they said their goodbyes, Ben realized how different the friendships he was developing with Poe and Finn were from the ones he’d had in the past. He much preferred this.

When he got home, Rey was waiting for him. Cora was in her bouncer and he walked over to her and easily lifted her out of it and cradled her to him. She came easily and he could tell she was already tired. He turned to greet Rey and his smile fell short when he saw the look on her face.

“Was Unkar here this morning after I left?” she asked.

Ben shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Were you going to tell me? I think it’s a pretty important detail.”

He sighed. “Eventually. I didn’t want you to freak out while I was at work.”

“Don’t you think,” Ben was already wincing. Her tone was quiet and angry. “It might be important for me to know that he knows where I am? What if he’d come after Cora and I didn’t know to be extra cautious?”

“I know. I’m sorry for keeping it from you. I thought I was doing the right thing.” He glanced at her and she didn’t seem to be softening in her annoyance. “Did Poe tell you?”

“Poe knew?” She looked and sounded exacerbated. “You told Poe and not me?”

“Shit, um yes? Wait, if Poe didn’t tell you, how’d you find out?”

“I got an email,” Rey stated. “From a professor. He was at my school today, ranting about me and telling anyone in earshot that my boyfriend beat him up. Did you hit him?”

Cora had gotten hold of his tie and was chewing on the end, soaking it with drool. Ben was trying to concentrate on juggling his daughter who kept shifting around and trying to think of the best way to answer her question.

“I did,” he said, deciding on full honesty. “He said some bad things and I lost my temper. I shouldn’t have, but it felt really good and it got him to leave right away.”

Rey glared at him and then her face softened a little. “Did you give him a black eye?”

“No, but I definitely broke his nose.”

He saw a faint glimmer of satisfaction flit across her face. “You have to tell me about this stuff Ben. I don’t like that you and Poe and Finn are keeping things like this from me. It’s about me. I should certainly get to know about it.”

“You’re right,” Ben conceded. “This was handled poorly. If it makes you feel better, my right hand is all stiff and bruised, so I think I've preemptively paid for my silence on the matter.”

"It doesn't!" She exclaimed, noticing his hand where it was on Cora's side. "That looks like it hurts!" 

"It's not so bad," he replied. "I've had worse. And I ran it under cold water when it first happened and took some ibuprofen I had in my briefcase. I just wanted a little sympathy." 

Rey rolled her eyes and glanced at the bags he’d dropped on the floor. “I know what one of those has in it, but what about the other one?”

Ben grinned. “Check it out,” he told her, still cradling Cora. “I’m gonna get this one fed. Tell me if you like it.”

Cora willingly went into her high chair and Ben had found some squash for her when Rey came into the kitchen. He turned and saw that she was hold the coat. 

“So, how does it fit?” he asked. 

“Ben, thank you, but I can’t accept this.” She was holding the coat away from her and Rey was looking embarrassed again and he suddenly realized that his gift could have been perceived as charity, or worse, payment.

“Rey, please take it. You need a heavier coat. As much as I enjoyed seeing you in one of mine, you also need to be able to use your hands which is very difficult when the cuffs of the sleeve are three inches past your fingertips. It’s a gift.” He saw the hesitance in her face still and his brows furrowed. “It’s more for me than it is for you. I’d worry about you if you didn’t have something to wear while it’s freezing outside. Take it to ease my mind.”

She slowly pulled the coat to her chest and when he gestured to it, she slid it on. It seemed to fit well and Ben was relieved.

“I’m glad it fits,” Ben confided. “It took more effort than I thought it would to figure out the right size.” 

Rey laughed. “It’s alright, I don’t even really know my size.” She shrugged out of the coat. “I’m going to hang this up in my closet. Thank you, again.”

Ben smiled and watched her go before setting himself to getting Cora fed. It seemed like every time he looked at her she’d gotten a little bit bigger. She was happy and obligingly eating her dinner with very little fuss when Rey came in the room. Ben started to turn to look at her and he saw a moment of panic on her face before he felt warm, sticky goo hit his cheek. Her hand flew to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the laughter bubbling forth but it was no use. Ben slowly turned to Cora who was also laughing, her mouth very empty despite the spoonful of squash he’d just given her.

“I’m sorry,” Rey called out from behind him. “I meant to warn you. She discovered this little game of spitting food this morning and she’s been really enjoying it.”

Ben still didn’t look away from his daughter’s happy face. “Really, Cora? That was entirely unnecessary.”

Rey was laughing again and took the baby food from him, advising him to take a shower and let her finish feeding Cora. Ben agreed, but for the first time felt a fission of resentment about the ease with which Rey could take over and how quickly Cora responded to her. The shower helped ease away some tension and Ben was feeling better. He heard a voice coming from the bathroom in the hall and, clad in only a pair of jeans, he poked his head in the open door. Rey had Cora in her bathing chair and she was softly singing to her and she washed away some of the mess Cora had made of her dinner. A smiled crossed his lips as he heard the mostly wordless humming Rey was doing. Cora was staring up at her with eyes wide with wonder and she kept reaching her little hands up to Rey’s face. As Rey gently cleaned her Cora cooed softly, giggling when Rey tickled her feet. 

“Mama”

The word hung in the air and Ben suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. Cora had been babbling ‘Dada’ for days now, but this was the first time he’d heard her say that. He knew that it didn’t mean anything; every book he’d ever read told him that would be one of the first words she said because it was easy for babies to babble out sounds like that, but at the same time there was something heart wrenching about it. 

Ben slipped away, the word echoing in his ears, making his heart beat a steady rhythm in his head. Cora was six months old now and those first six months had passed more quickly than Ben had thought possible. Before he knew it, she’d be a year old and she’d start to relate those simple words she’d stumbled upon to people in a way that would mean something. Rey was always around to take care of Cora while he was at work and now she was living here, however temporarily. If Rey stayed in their lives long enough, Cora would really start to believe the woman was her mother and Ben realized with sudden clarity that he wanted Rey to stay in their lives long enough for that to happen.

It was foolish to think that way. He’d never said a word to Rey about what he might want from this thing they were doing. They’d never even gone out on a date. Rey slipped into their lives with such ease that before Ben even realized what was happening, she felt like a permanent fixture and aside from the two of them confessing their feelings after a traumatic night they’d never discussed a thing about what either of them wanted. He knew that it wasn’t fair to Cora to do this. She people who would stay in her life and Ben had never even asked if that was what Rey was thinking. 

Ben was sitting on his bed, wallowing in his own thoughts and insecurities when Rey found him. Cora was rosy from her bath and dressed warmly in her pajamas. 

“Someone wants to see her Daddy before she goes to bed,” Rey remarked with a smile and she handed Cora to Ben who came happily into his arms. He held her close and smelled the baby sweetness of her light brown hair. Rey sat next to him and looked to him quizzically. “Is something wrong? You look tense.”

Ben pressed a gentle kiss to his daughter’s head and gently swayed her back and forth in his arms, trying to soothe her into a peaceful sleep. 

“I heard her call you ‘Mama’ and it’s throwing me off a little bit.”

Rey’s eyebrows shot up. “Ben, you know she calls everything ‘Mama’ lately, right? Before you came home, she was insistent that her toes were ‘Mama’, her stuffed elephant was ‘Mama’ and the book she managed to wrestle out of my hands was ‘Mama’.’

Ben continued to sway slightly and he could feel Cora relaxing against him and finally settling her head on his shoulder. “I haven’t heard her say it yet. The first time I heard it was when she was reaching out to you.”

“Oh,” Rey paused. “I’m at a loss as to how to respond here.”

Ben’s hold on Cora grew a little firmer. “I’ve been going about things the wrong way. My priority must be Cora in all things and I haven’t been doing that. I don’t want to have a revolving door of women flitting in and out of our lives. I want her to feel secure.”

Ben felt a pressure on his thigh and he looked down to see Rey’s hand there. “I don’t particularly like the idea of you having a revolving door either.”

His heart was racing. “Rey, you’re nineteen. I’m considerably older than you. I have a child. You’re at the beginning of your adulthood. You have so many important decisions to make and I don’t want you to feel obligated to make a choice now.” He had more to say, but Rey cut him off.

“I waited for years for my parents to come and find me,” Rey said, her voice trembling. “I never gave up hope that they would come for me. I was sure that everything was just some big mistake and they’d show up one day and take me away from the life I was stuck with. They never came.” Ben looked at her and a single tear was slowly making its way down her cheek. “Finn did though. He didn’t have to. We weren’t the same age. We weren’t in the same home. He went to my school and I was barely aware of him until one day some guys were picking on him for being a foster kid and I got angry and I knocked them on their asses with a tree branch. We became inseparable and he knew all about how things were at Unkar’s place. He’d beg me to sneak over to his foster home and stay with him at nights because he was worried about me, but all I could think was ‘What if my parents come and I’m not there? When Finn aged out of the system and managed to get into a decent college, I thought I was all alone. I still had 2 years before I was going to get out and when I did I didn’t know where I’d go. I didn’t know if I’d let myself leave.” Ben’s heart broke a little every time her speech faltered and she paused to regain herself. “Then, in the middle of the night about 6 months after he left, Finn came tapping on my window and told me to get my things because he had a place for us and he was going to bust me out. He didn’t even have a car, but he was willing to give me a real home. I took one of Unkar’s old car, one he said he’d never be able to sell because it was worthless. I decided he owed me that much at least; he’d made so much money from my ability to fix cars. Finn had a studio apartment with a tiny bed and an old couch and one or two other little things, but he wanted to share it with me. That’s when I knew that I didn’t need to wait anymore. My parents weren’t coming back, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have a family. I experienced what it was like to come home for the first and it taught me so many things, but do you know what the most important thing I learned was?”

Ben wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical, but when she didn’t go on, he answered her. “No, I don’t.”

“I learned that family can be whoever you decide it should be and that when you find someone who can make anywhere feel like home, they’re special.” Rey was looking at him, and a thousand words were exchanged in a second. “You and Cora feel like home to me, too and I think that I’m old enough to know how rare that is. You’re not limiting me. You’re not trapping me. I’m here because I want to be.” She squared her shoulders and flex her fingers into his thigh. “And when Cora starts understanding what ‘Mama’ means if you try to dissuade her from calling me that, I’m going to find another damn tree branch.”

Ben cracked a smile at that. “I doubt you’d be able to do any damage.”

“And I’m just as certain that I’d knock you on your ass at the very least,” Rey insisted. “You may be big, but you don’t hold a monopoly on strength just because you’re a giant.”

They say in companionable silence for a few minutes before Rey shifted. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Besides, we should probably get Cora in her crib.” 

Ben nodded. “If you get her down, I’ll order Chinese food.”

Rey grinned. “Absolutely."

The handoff went smoothly enough that Cora stirred slightly, but didn’t awaken. Rey took her to her bedroom while Ben made a call for delivery. After ordering an obscene amount of food, Ben padded down the hallway and looked out the front window, checking to see if the car from this morning was back. The street was blissfully calm and empty. Rey glided up softly behind him and he turned to wrap her in a warm hug, placing a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Thank you,” he told her, arms still firmly holding her to him. 

“For what?” Rey asked, wriggling in his arms until she found the position she seemed to be most comfortable in.

“For wanting to stay. I wanted you to stay.”

She hummed in contentment and laid her head against his chest and he understood, just a little bit, what she meant when she’d said that people could feel like home.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Okay guys, this is the chapter that most of you have been waiting for: smut. I've changed the overall rating on the fic, but I will keep including author's notes to warn anyone of graphic scenes. Next chapter will be up soon and will be a return to the plot. At this point, I've officially mapped out where I want this story to go, so hold on guys, it's going to be a wild ride. Thanks for sticking with me this far, and as always, enjoy!**

“I ate too much food,” Rey stated, before helping herself to a fortune cookie. Ben watched her crack the sweet open and he smiled when she laughed. “I don’t think these are really even fortunes anymore. I’ve never gotten one that predicted anything, wrong or not. They’re always just vague statements.”

“Well,” Ben said, reaching for his own. “What does yours say?”

Rey smirked and held the sliver of paper up. “A smile is your passport into the hearts of others.”

“That’s not necessarily untrue,” Ben remarked. “I like your smile.” He fumbled with his own cookie, trying to extract the paper without breaking it open. 

“Are you trying to say that my smiling is working me into your heart?”

He finally successfully slid the paper out and unfolded it, tossing Rey a toothy grin of his own. “It doesn’t hurt.” 

“What does yours say?” Rey asked before popping the cookie in her mouth and chewing enthusiastically. 

“Nothing is impossible to a willing heart,” Ben read aloud. 

“They must have purchased heart themed fortune cookies in bulk,” Rey mused. “Or these are leftovers from Valentine’s Day.”

Ben arched an eyebrow. “It’s October.”

Rey stood, stretching. “I know what I said. I doubt fortune cookies go bad.” She picked up her plate and took it to the kitchen and Ben heard the dish being rinsed before being placed into the dishwasher. He was suddenly feeling a touch nervous and he stood and started to pick up the leftovers, deciding that keeping his hands busy might be the best thing for him at this point. Rey came back to the table with the same idea and she helped him clear the table quietly and quickly. Before he knew it, they’d gotten everything put away and they were standing in the kitchen. 

“So, what now?” Rey asked. 

“We could try to watch a movie,” Ben offered, because suggesting they do what had been on his mind for the last hour felt awkward as all hell. 

Rey tilted her head and smiled up at him. “We’re not very good at watching movies, Ben.”

“That’s alright,” he replied. “We can pretend we’re going to watch a movie.”

“Well,” Rey responded, “if we’re going to pretend to watch a movie, I’m going to brush my teeth first because I don’t want the movie to know my breath smells like garlic chicken.”

Ben snorted and Rey shot him an impish grin over her shoulder as she walked away, presumably to brush her teeth. Ben decided to do the same and trailed after her. 

He looked at himself in the mirror while he braced his hands against the bathroom counter. He tilted his head to the side and tried to locate the spot where he’d nicked himself shaving this morning, but the search was in vain. He reached an arm out to turn the faucet back on and he filled his hands with the water before bringing his face down and splashing the cool water against his skin. His face was overly warm and the water felt soothing against it. He rubbed his face vigorously with water and soap until he was certain that it was completely clean. He toweled the skin off and tucked the slightly damp ends of the hair that had clung to his lowered face behind his ears. He dawdled for another minute, wiping up the mess of water he’d made before starting out of his bathroom, moving past his bedroom, and down the hall. 

Rey was curled up on the couch, and she looked up at him when he entered and the smile she tossed him was a little tremulous. He paused where he was and just looked at her for a moment. 

“You’re so beautiful.” He hadn’t meant to say that, the words had just spilled out of his mouth. Rey’s cheeks flushed a gentle pink and she looked down at herself. Ben drank in the sight of her, lovely as always in a comfortably oversized tan sweater that was dipping off her right shoulder and dark leggings. The silenced stretched for several heartbeats before Ben started to walk over to her again. She watched him approach from her spot on the couch and Ben wondered what she was thinking as he drew closer. The look of nervousness hadn’t eased from her face and when he settled himself next to her, he reached his left hand out to hers where they lay clenched together in her lap. 

“Nothing happens tonight unless you want it to.” He watched some of the tension leave her shoulders at that proclamation and she relaxed slightly. 

“I know, I don’t know why I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be afraid,” he told her gently. “I feel it too.” 

She’d shifted her body towards him when he sat down, but now she leaned in closer and he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. His right hand reached up to stroke her cheek and he ignored the twinge of pain he felt when he uncurled his fingers to brush gently against the skin there. It was soft and smooth and he cupped her jaw in his hand, bringing her closer. Quite suddenly, she was pressing against him and guiding him down onto the couch. It wasn’t the smoothest transition and the kiss broke off while they rearranged themselves, but Ben was more than happy to oblige her when it meant she was on top of him. Her hair was spilling forward like a curtain around them when she brushed her lips against his in a maddeningly gentle manner. After several butterfly soft caresses of her lips against his, she fit her mouth against his firmly and Ben slid his hands up her sides underneath the sweater. 

She pulled her mouth from his with a sudden giggle and she squirmed on top of him in a way that was driving him crazy. 

“Sorry,” she breathed lightly. “I’m ticklish.”

Ben stowed that information away for future use. “I’ll try to not do that again,” he told her, his fingers still on her skin. 

“Do you want to move to your bedroom?” Rey asked. “I don’t think we’re going to pretend to watch a movie after all and the couch is a little narrow.”

Ben nodded, probably too eagerly if the way Rey grinned at him was any indication and she slid off him, the loose sweater now perilously far down on her shoulder. Ben rose after her and took her hand and she laughed softly at the enthusiasm with which he led her down the hall. 

He clicked his bedroom door gently shut behind him and Rey was standing near the bed, obviously feeling a little unsure again. He moved toward her slowly and she watched him avidly. 

“You’re beautiful too, you know.”

Ben stopped in his tracks. He wanted to think she was exaggerating but the look in her eyes belied no such thing. She looked the same as she always had, open and honest. 

“You’re probably the first person outside of family to say that to me,” he told her. He saw her brow crease and he wondered what she was thinking. He didn’t have to wonder long. She closed the gap between them in a few strides and stood very close in front of him. 

“You are beautiful. Unconventional, maybe, but breathtaking all the same.”

“Rey,” Ben sighed. “You don’t have to tell me that. I know I’m a little weird looking—”

She cut him off, her voice insistent. “You are beautiful and nothing you say is going to change that.” 

He pulled her into his arms and she went happily. Ben bent down slightly to match her height and the kiss was deeper and more intimate than the ones they’d shared before. Rey, he quickly discovered, was an excellent kisser and every moment made him feel warmer and more eager. She was stroking her hands against him non-stop, sometimes caressing his shoulders, sometimes making a path down his back, and the effect was that Ben felt completely surrounded by her. She was pulling him backwards as they kissed and when she stopped moving suddenly, he knew it was because her thighs were braced against his bed. She pulled away from him and sat on the edge of the mattress, looking up at him with her warm brown eyes in a way that made him feel ten feet tall. Her lips curled up into a gentle smile and she eased herself further back on his bed. 

He was more than willing to follow her and they ended up draped across his bed in a completely ridiculous way that made half of Ben’s legs dangle off the edge, but he didn’t care at the moment, content to be a little uncomfortable if it afforded him access to Rey’s exposed throat. The mark he’d accidently given her was still there and he pressed his mouth to the skin there, eliciting another of the shuddering gasps from Rey that made him want more. He kissed a path down the column of her throat, tracing his lips across her collarbone until he found the little dip between them. His hands gently found their way to the bottom of her sweater again and when he started to ease the material up, she shifted her weight and it slid up easily. The looseness the sweater made for quick removal and he marveled at the juxtaposition of the creamy smoothness of the skin of her stomach and the light blue lacy bra that she wore. The material appeared to be just for show as it was then enough that he could see the dusky pink nipples that were theoretically supposed to be hidden. He continued the trail of kisses down her chest, pausing between her breasts. With his mouth pressed to the skin there, he could swear he heard the rapid thumping of her heart. He felt her hands starting to pull at his shirt and he worked it up over his head, tossing it carelessly to the floor. She reached out and gently stroked her hands across the bare skin of his abdomen and it felt like she was burning a trail across him. Her fingertips grazed the button on his jeans and he knew that she was wordlessly asking his permission. 

He pushed away instead, standing and removing the last of his clothes with a hurried hand before rushing back to the relative comfort of his bed. He was anxious again. Being naked in front of someone new was always difficult. She quickly turned his attention from his own anxiety when she took a page from his book and slid her leggings off. She wasn’t wearing underwear. The bra went next and he watched her arms twitch up to cover her chest. When he realized she was just as nervous as he was, he was suddenly less so. He reached for her and she came back into his arms easily. Her skin was smooth and hot and she seemed to fit against him perfectly. 

“This is nice,” she murmured, her voice soft and dreamy. “You’re a lot warmer than me.”

He chuckled at that, but suddenly stopped when she rubbed herself against him and let out a satisfied hum. He shifted until he was bracing himself on top of her and he enjoyed the picture of her, hair spread out across a pillow and her eyes soft and hazy with desire. He wanted to kiss every inch of her and he didn’t realize he’d voiced that sentiment until she enthusiastically informed him she’d like that too. By the time he was done, she was shivering and he wanted her so badly that his hands were shaking. He was incredibly glad he’d remembered to bring the box of condoms into the bedroom, immediately amused by the idea of him having to retrieve them in this state.

“We can go slow,” he whispered huskily into her ear in between nipping and kissing her sensitive neck. “I don’t want you to feel hurried.”

“I want you, Ben, this has been slow enough for me.”

He kissed her again, and while he did, he reached toward the bedside table and snagged one of the foil packets he’d placed there. He placed it on the bed next to them, wanting it more easily accessible while Rey squirmed beneath him. When he broke off the kiss, it was to gently capture a nipple in his mouth and Rey’s gasp made him feel deeply pleased. He reached a hand down between them to stroke at her, amused when her hips twitched involuntarily when he found the right spot. Within minutes she was writhing and moaning softly and he watched the emotions cross her face with satisfaction. When she started to tense beneath him, he pressed his mouth to hers to muffle the sound of her increasing moans. Her fingertips scoured his back and then she stilled, pulling her mouth away from his with a soft gasp before she bit down on her lip and closed her eyes, furrowing her brow. She went slack against him and he kissed her again, more urgently. He’d wanted to watch her fall apart first and now that she had he was desperate for her. 

In a smooth motion, he tore the package open, slid the condom on and waited for a sign from her. It came in the form of a nod and a slid inside her, making sure to go slow. He clenched his jaw at the sensation and Rey’s hands found their way to his hair. He braced himself so his weight wouldn’t hurt her and found a rhythm that was deep and slow and made Rey grip at his hair and whimper. It had been long enough for him that he was afraid of things ending prematurely so he kept the pace slow, wanting to ensure that Rey enjoyed herself too. When he felt himself getting close to his end, he started to gently tease her clitoris again, wanting her to find fulfillment again before he lost control. Suddenly, she was gasping and pulling at his hair so hard it stung and Ben knew she was almost there and when he felt her tighten around him and she cried out he let himself get lost in the sensations. When he came, it was with her name on his lips and seared into his heart.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A quick warning, there is some violence in this chapter. I tried to not go into too much detail, but I don't want anyone to be surprised by the content. This is a darker chapter than I've had in the past, but I'll try to treat you all (and myself because writing some of this was emotionally draining) to a fluffy chapter soon.**   
>  **Thank you for all of the lovely comments. I really think I have the best readers. This story has broken 300 Kudos and 5000 hits. I never thought that this story would get a fraction of the attention it has, and I am so grateful. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!**

The next morning Ben woke up before his alarm went off. He still had his arms wrapped securely around Rey and she was gently shifting around. The movement had wrenched him from his sleep and he watched her try to discreetly wiggle away with amusement.

“Going somewhere?” He asked her curiously, and she stilled immediately. 

Her voice sounded muffled when she answered, “I was just going to try to get some coffee going.”

He pulled her back against him tightly. “Don’t let me stop you.”

She squirmed and tried in vain to move away from him. Ben was surprised that it was difficult to keep hold of her, but she’d warned him that she was stronger than he might expect.

“Ben!” She called out, huffing in annoyance. “You’re going to have to let me go.”

“Never,” he replied before pressing a kiss to her temple and releasing her from his grip. When she stumbled out of bed, the look she cast him was annoyed, albeit amused. She flounced out of the room, clad in only one of Ben’s shirts and her leggings. At the door, she paused and looked over at her shoulder at him.

“Weirdo.”

Ben’s laughter filled the room as she left it and a warm contentment settled over him, easing out the concern he’d buried over the depth of his feelings so soon. He reached for his phone and was in the middle of looking over his emails, when he heard a scream echoing down the hall. Instantly, he was out of his bed and rushing out of the room. When he got to the kitchen, the sight that greeted him made blood rush in his ears. 

Unkar Plutt was in his kitchen and he’d managed to get ahold of Rey by the hair and he was viciously yanking her across the floor by it. There was a noise filling his ears and when the large man looked up, he realized that he must have been the one making it. Before he could take so much as a single step toward them, the man produced a wicked looking knife and brutally yanked Rey up, placing the blade against her throat. Ben’s scalp burned in sympathy for the intense pain pulling someone up by their hair would undoubtedly cause. 

“Don’t take a fucking step,” the man hissed when Ben tried to move toward him. He stilled and watched a tear leak out of the side of Rey’s left eye. From behind him, he heard the yells of his daughter and the anger he was feeling settled into a cold rage that Ben hadn’t felt in years.

“Everything is going to be okay sweetheart,” Ben told Rey, his voice calm and comforting. When he spoke to the man threatening her, his voice remained calm, but took on a hard edge. “You’re not going to walk away from this,” he told him. “But let her go right now and you can wait for the police to take you into custody and I won’t touch you.” It was a lie, but he saw the man’s eyes flicker momentarily. “Hurt her any further and I’ll do much worse to you.”

“You think she’s yours, but she’s not. She belongs to me and I’d prefer her dead than with anyone else.” 

Rey winced when the tip of the knife dug into her skin, puncturing it slightly. When a trickle of blood ran down the smooth skin, Ben’s hands tightened. He looked into her eyes, huge with terror and pain and his head started to throb. 

“Get out of my way,” Plutt wheezed. “Or I’ll kill her.”

“Ben,” Rey cried, “it’s okay, just listen.” 

His eyes narrowed, but Ben stepped back a few paces. Emboldened by his retreat, Plutt moved forward slightly, cursing at Rey when she stumbled. The man paused and tried to force her to walk and Ben suddenly realized what she was doing. He inched forward slightly while the man was distracted, but even as he drew closer, Rey’s knees seemed to quake. With an angry shout, Plutt tried to right her and as he berated her and tried to straighten her up, the knife was no longer pressed to her throat. Before he could use this to his advantage, Rey’s hand shot up and gripped Plutt’s, her fingernails digging into his flesh. The man howled and Rey used forced his arm out and away from her and at the same time she ducked under his now outstretched arm, twirling to face him and lifting her right leg to shove her foot hard into the man’s fleshy abdomen.

Ben was on him then, knocking the knife out of his hand and pulling Rey away from him, pushing her behind him and calling out for her to call the police. He heard the slap of her bare feet against the floor as she raced off to her phone. Ben smiled at the man in front of him and it was dark and dangerous. He forced him up against the wall and slammed a fist into his gut. Plutt let out a painful whoosh of air and doubled over and Ben used the movement as an excuse to slam his knee into the man’s face. The sickening crack made Ben’s smile grow and when he stepped back Plutt crumpled to the ground. He’d reeled a leg back to kick him when he heard a harshly indrawn breath from behind him.

“Ben, don’t,” Rey’s voice was pleading and Ben wanted to ignore it, but something about the tone tugged at him. He didn’t turn to look at her, wanting to keep his eyes on the man bleeding on his kitchen floor.

“He hurt you.” The sentence hung in the air and the only other sound was Unkar’s labored breathing and bleating cries from where he lay. 

“It’s not worth it. The police are on their way. You said it yourself, he’s not walking away from this one. Don’t get yourself into trouble because of him.”

“It’s not because of him,” Ben replied heatedly. When it appeared Unkar was trying to push himself off the floor, Ben kicked his hands out from under him and shoved his head down with his foot, pressing his bloody face to the hardwood with an angry satisfaction. Rey’s gasp was ragged and he let up, finally turning to look at her. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears and the streak of blood stood out against her skin starkly. He moved toward her, but halted immediately when she took a rapid step back, the tears in her eyes spilling over. He heard sirens in the distance and they were obviously growing closer.

“Rey?” He tried to reach out to her, but dropped his arm when she recoiled, shaking her head. When she finally replied to him, he could barely hear her quavering voice over the sirens.

“I’m going to wait in the yard.”

She darted away and Ben watched her go, fearing the worst. 

 

By the time Unkar had been arrested and taken away, Poe and Finn showed up. Rey had clearly gotten into contact with them at some point. He wanted to ask when, but she hadn’t even looked at him. She was giving her statement to a burly police officer when the two men burst onto the scene, forcing their way past the police officer by the door. 

“That’s my sister, asshole.” Finn yelled and the man looked from Finn to Rey with a dubious expression, but allowed him to pass. Poe followed, apologizing for the younger man’s words over his shoulder as he made his way to Rey. 

The girl hurled herself into Finn’s waiting arms and the police officer she’d been talking to glared sternly at him, but Finn was too busy trying to comfort the now crying Rey to care. Ben was on the other side of the room, cradling his daughter while he relayed his version of the events to the police officer standing in front of him. The man told him that it was unlikely that Ben would ever be held to blame for the injuries that had befallen Unkar as they’d happened amid an attempting abduction and possible attempted homicide. The man closed his notebook and Ben shuddered at the word homicide. 

Rey could have died. He could have lost her. The knowledge burned a hole in the pit of his stomach. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and reassure himself that she was okay, but Rey was obviously upset with him. When the police officer handed Ben his card and told him that he’d need to contact him again Ben nodded absently, his eyes still on Rey. Poe approached him, eyeing him warily. 

“Do you want me to hold Cora for a while?”

Ben glanced at Poe who was standing by him, tentatively holding his arms out. His daughter was gripping his shirt and Ben shook his head. 

“No, I need to hold her.”

“Rey’s scared. Don’t take her response personally,” Poe told him.

Ben’s attention was turned back to Rey. He felt useless when he wasn’t the one she was seeking comfort from, but he didn’t want to approach her, worried that would make things worse.

“I scared her,” Ben replied, shifting his daughter’s weight slightly. 

“I mean,” Poe paused, and Ben saw that he looked thoughtful. “Yes, you did. But I think she was more freaked out by everything that was happening. She’s a strong girl, and she’s taken dozens of the free self-defense classes her school offers, but she’s still terrified of Unkar. He got into her head when she was a little girl and did a good deal of damage and she’s still slogging through some of it.”

Ben held tighter to Cora. “She was afraid of me. I never wanted that. I’d never hurt her. I lost control,” he exhaled when he said that. “I haven’t for a while, but when I saw Plutt hurting her, I wanted him dead. More to the point, I wanted to kill him. If Rey hadn’t come into the kitchen when she did, I’m not sure I would have stopped until the police stopped me.”

Poe regarded him. “I can’t begin to imagine how I’d feel if I was in your shoes. I might have done the same as you. Just give her some time, she’ll come back around.”

Ben wondered if that was true or if his temper had ruined something else.

 

Eventually, the police left. They took statements and pictures and after twelve, almost six hours after they’d arrived, they left, promising Ben and Rey that they would be in touch and that Unkar Plutt would remain in custody. Finn and Poe had stayed the entire time, flanking Rey on the couch while Ben attended to Cora. 

He was starving and Cora was clearly exhausted. She’d dissolved into another meltdown when Rey finally came toward Ben. Wordlessly, she reached out for Cora and Ben handed her over. Rey shushed her gently and walked her down the hall. Ben watched her go and felt his stomach twist when Rey disappeared. 

“Sit down,” Finn called out. “You look ready to drop.” 

Ben ignored the advice and instead took in a shaky breath. 

“I fucked up, didn’t I?” 

Finn shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Ben was hoping for some encouragement, but the bleak response made his throat tighten. He was terrified. Steeling himself, he strode down the hallway, ignoring Finn’s loud “That’s not a good idea.”

He pulled open the door to Cora’s bedroom and saw Rey in the rocking chair, gently cooing to Cora. Her eyes met his and he walked in the room, shutting it behind him firmly. 

“I am never going to hurt you.”

The words hung in the air and suddenly Ben felt like an asshole. The only sound was the creak of the rocking chair and Cora’s sleepy snuffles.

“You could,” Rey told him. “Maybe I’d be able to stop you, but I probably couldn’t. You’re over half a food taller than me, and you’re considerably stronger.”

“I won’t. Rey, I’m sorry that this happened. I’m sorry that you saw me lose control of my temper. That hasn’t happened in a while.”

She looked down at Cora and the little girl was out. She smiled at her gently. “I love her so much,” she whispered, trailing a finger gently down her cheek. “What if Unkar had chosen to come after her? I’d never forgive myself. I put her in danger by being here. I put you in danger too.”

Ben walked forward quickly, relieved when Rey didn’t try to move away from him. He knelt in front of her. “That didn’t happen. She’s safe and so are you. Don’t blame yourself for a hypothetical.” He reached out to her and placed his hand over hers. She didn’t pull away. 

“How can I love her this much when I haven’t even known her for long?” Rey’s question was a quiet whisper. “I know I should put her in her crib, but I don’t want to stop holding her.”

Ben’s eyes softened. “Rey, nothing is going to happen to her.” He saw her blink rapidly, trying to hold back the tears. 

“How could they abandon me? I don’t even want to let go of her for her nap. How could they dump me somewhere and never come back for me?”

Ben’s heart ached. “I don’t know.” 

It took nearly twenty minutes and one spectacularly loud growl of her stomach before Ben could convince Rey to set Cora into her crib. It took him another several minutes of gently cajoling before he could get her to leave the room. When they finally rejoined Finn and Poe, the two men had bags from a deli that wasn’t far from Ben’s neighborhood. 

“We thought you might want something to eat,” Poe explained. 

Ben was grateful to him, but before he took one of the sandwiches, he made some excuse that got him out of the room. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called his mother. She answered cheerfully asking how her granddaughter was. He gave her a quick rundown and when she gently teased him about the girl Han told her about he paused. 

“That’s why I’m calling mom. I need your help.”

There was a long pause on the other end. “What do you need?”

“I need you to help me find her family.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Here's the fluffy chapter I promised you. I hope you're ready for cuteness. Enjoy!**

Two months. It had been two month since Unkar had broken into Ben’s house and threatened Rey and made Ben examine the depth of his attachment to her. It had also been two months since it was necessary for Rey to continue staying over, and yet she still hadn’t moved back into her own apartment. Ben didn’t say anything about it, worried that if he did she’d suddenly realize that she didn’t need to spend the night with him anymore and leave. Over the last two monts, they’d spent every moment that he wasn’t at work and she wasn’t at school together and it felt like the most deliriously intoxicating dream. He’d learned all the many spots where she was ticklish and that she loved Earl Grey. He’d held her every night and had woken up with her more than once when she’d had a nightmare and needed him to reassure her that things were okay. Once, several days earlier, Cora had woken them up and she’d told him to stay in bed and when he woke up again over an hour later, he found Rey asleep in the rocking chair, Cora nestled against her firmly. Ben had known he’d been falling in love with Rey, but seeing her like that with his daughter had confirmed what he’d been feeling. He was in love with her.

It was Saturday and Ben was making pancakes while Rey was playing with Cora. He was listening to Rey chatter to Cora with a grin on his face. 

“Ben! Get over here, quick!”

He dropped what he was doing immediately. A month ago, he might have been immediately afraid, but now he could decipher the nuances in Rey’s excited voice and her panicked one. He made it to the living room just in time to see what she was worked up over. Cora had crawled over to the couch and reached up to the cushion. He saw her chubby little baby arms working and suddenly she was upright, wobbly, and standing. Ben’s heart leapt. Rey had just been telling him last night that she thought Cora might be getting ready to stand on her own soon. 

Rey was hovering behind her, her hands outstretched and ready to catch Cora if she fell, but the little girl was steadying herself and looking around. Ben was torn between watching his daughter and looking at the radiant joy on Rey’s face. She looked so proud and as he glanced between the two of them he felt the now familiar warmth settling in his stomach. Rey was looking around suddenly and she turned to Ben, concern on her face.

“What’s that smell? Is something burning?”

“Shit! The pancakes.” He turned to run back to the kitchen and Rey’s laughter followed him.

“We really need to stop cursing in front of Cora,” she called out. “Imagine how embarrassing it would be if her first word aside from ‘Dada’ and ‘Mama’ is ‘fuck’.”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh at that, even as he tossed out two burned pancakes. “Mine was ‘No’.”

“Yeah,” Rey replied, “I can see that. Contrary as you are.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I am incredibly agreeable.”

“Says the man who couldn’t help but disagree with me,” Rey countered and Ben laughed again, acknowledging there might have been some truth to what she was saying. There was a knock at the door and Ben frowned.

“Are Finn and Poe coming over for breakfast?” He asked, stepping around the kitchen threshold, keeping his eye on the new pancakes.

Rey swooped Cora up and headed toward the door. “No, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was them. I might have mentioned that you were making pancakes today.”

She opened the door and didn’t say anything and when she remained silent for a moment, Ben called out to her.

“Who’s at the door?”

She turned and cast an apprehensive look in his direction. With her turned to the side he could see very clearly the tiny woman in the doorway.

“Mom?”

Leia Organa walked in with a broad grin on her face.

“Good morning Benny!” Leia turned to Rey and her smile widened. “You must be Rey, I’ve seen pictures of you and Cora, but it’s great to finally meet you.”

Ben saw Rey’s astonished look melt away into a tentative smile of her own. “Oh, okay, that makes sense. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

From the doorway, Han appeared and Ben’s stomach clenched when he saw the look on his father’s face. He knew that Han was going to cause trouble by the smirk he threw at Ben.

“Rey!” he boomed, and Ben saw Cora jump at the noise. “And my granddaughter. You look good together.”

Ben saw his mother pluck the baby from Rey’s arms and Rey let her go hesitantly while Han closed the door behind him. Once Cora was no longer in Rey’s arms, the older man swept in for a bearhug that Rey was not expecting. Her arms hung at her sides before she returned the hug, less enthusiastically than Han was doing.

“We thought we’d take you kids out to breakfast, but it smells like you’re making breakfast already.” Han threw an arm around Rey’s shoulder and Leia was cooing to Cora who was still looking startled by the sudden noise. Ben was shocked she hadn’t dissolved into tears, but his mother had always been good with her.

Ben was still standing in the kitchen, suddenly aware that he and Rey were still in their pajamas and judging by the look Rey was casting down at herself, she was painfully aware of that fact too. He could see the flush of her cheeks from where he was and he immediately felt sympathetic.

“We weren’t expecting you,” Ben said, looking back toward the pancakes. They needed to be flipped and he did it as quickly as he could, turning the heat down slightly. When he made it back to the doorway, Leia was on the floor with Cora, teasing her with one of stuffed animals and Ben nearly did a double take to see his mother who was often posh and formal sitting cross legged on a floor surrounded by toys. Cora was determined to grab her toy from his mom and she let out a little shriek of laughter and leaned toward her.

His father still had his arm around Rey who was blushing furiously now and Ben decided that he needed to rescue her from his father’s clutches, but before he could, the man began regaling her with some of his more embarrassing exploits. He stood by helpless as his mother played with Cora, who was shrieking every few seconds, and his father told Rey all about his alternative phase in high school. 

“He used to wear black eyeliner and nail polish. I think he thought that he was really tough.”

Rey’s eyes met his as she tired, and failed, to stifle a laugh. Ben stood of the threshold of his kitchen helplessly while Han was seemingly doing his best to embarrass him. He still had the spatula in his hand when his mother glanced up at him. 

“Ben, why don’t you put that all away? Han and I can take care of getting Cora ready. You and Rey should change and we’ll all go out for a lovely family breakfast together.”

Rey was back to blushing again and Ben was almost certain that it was because his mother so casually included her when she said family. As annoyed as he was with his parents showing up with no warning, the faint flush and creeping smile spreading across Rey’s face made it better. Ben agreed and put things away in the kitchen quickly, shaking his head as he wrapped up the two unburnt pancakes and stored the rest of the batter, deciding he’d use it for breakfast tomorrow. 

When he left the kitchen, Rey was still next to his father, her embarrassment forgotten as she animatedly spoke with him. He caught enough of the conversation to realize that the two of them were talking excitedly about cars and he remembered the late-night phone call he’d made a few months prior. Han had obviously remembered it too, and he was getting a great deal of enjoyment out of having someone with whom to enthuse about cars. 

“Rey, we should get dressed,” Ben told her. He had to repeat himself before she really heard what he was saying and remembered that she was still in pajamas. She was back to blushing again and apologized to Han before sweeping away. He watched her hurry down the hall into his bedroom, which had really become their bedroom, and quietly shut the door.

“So,” Leia started, carefully. “Is she still living here?” Her face was schooled into a carefully blank expression and she wasn’t looking at Ben, her eyes still on her granddaughter.

“Yes, she is,” Ben answered succinctly. 

“Do you think that’s wise?” His mother questioned, still not looking at him. “You tend to move things too quickly. Remember what happened with Bazine?”

Ben flinched. He’d done his best to refuse to refer to her by her name in his mind, preferring to think of her only in the terms of being the woman that gave birth to Cora, rather than the woman who had tricked him into thinking he was in love with her.

“She’s different. Take some time to get to know her, you’ll like her.”

“I already do,” Han inserted quickly, flashing Ben a smile that made him suddenly grateful to his father. “She’s not the same type of woman. Can you imagine the other one ever opening the door in pajamas? The few times we saw her, she was always hard and shiny looking.”

Leia didn’t say anything, but she looked at Ben and in that glance, he saw her genuine worry. “I don’t want you to get hurt again. Honey, you nearly fell apart last time. I’ve seen you in some pretty bad ways, I checked you into your first rehabilitation center, but it was nothing like this.”

“Just get to know her. You’ll love her.”

With those parting words, he left to join Rey in getting ready. 

 

The breakfast place they went to was small, but the menu was good and Ben enjoyed Rey’s face when she looked over it, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she tried to decide. As she did so, Cora started to fuss, but without taking her eyes off the menu, she extended a warm hand to the little girl, caressing her head gently and Cora immediately stopped, grabbed at Rey’s hand, and giggled. Ben looked over his menu at his mother, who watched Rey avidly. He wondered what his mother was thinking when Rey laid her menu down and smiled at everyone around the table.

“Sorry, I’m still not used to going out places much. Everything here looks great, though.”

Ben’s mother removed her reading glasses. “Didn’t your parents ever take you out?” 

Ben wanted to groan. His mother knew that Rey didn’t know anything about her parents, she was trying to find them. She also knew the whole story about Rey’s foster guardian, that tidbit gleamed from her research. He wondered what kind of game his mother was playing when Rey’s smiled faltered a little bit and he reached over to her free hand and gave it a small squeeze. She looked to him and seemed to straighten her shoulders a little.

“Maybe,” Rey said thoughtfully. “I don’t remember them much about them. I was in foster care for most of my life and my guardian always had too many wards and not enough time.”

Ben was impressed by her diplomacy and a glance toward his mother showed him that Leia was too. 

“I never knew my parents either,” Han said, more cheerfully that Rey had done. He smiled at her conspiratorially. “That’s another thing we have in common.”

Leia watched the exchange with pursed lips and Ben realized that the comparison might not be the best thing for the situation. His parents got along better now, but when he was a child, they’d fought like cats and dogs and Han had walked out of their lives more than once. 

“This is nice, actually,” Leia tried to hide her surprise, but it still leaked into the words. “We don’t really get a chance to see Ben as much as we’d like. Getting the chance to spend the day together is rare, and of course I’ve been dying to meet you.”

Rey looked to Ben and smiled. “It’s really nice to get a chance to meet you. I wish you two were here when it wasn’t so cold. Ben and I could take you to Cora’s favorite park if it was a little warmer, but I think it might not be the best for her to be outside when it’s this chilly. I don’t want her to get sick.”

Before his mother could respond, Han jumped in. “When Ben told me that you like cars, I wanted to drive down and meet you right then. I’ve told him more than once; the best women tend to know what they’re doing around engines. The other one didn’t even know how to change a tire.” Han snorted into his drink. “She’d probably have been too worried to break a nail.”

Ben’s right hand gripped the side of the table. Having the mother of his child thrown in his face twice in one day was slowly making his temples throb, a precursor to what would become anger soon if the situation didn’t improve. 

“Well, everyone is entitled to their own interests,” Rey replied and Ben relaxed a little. “When we get back home, I’ll show you some of the schematics I’m working on for one of my classes.”

While Han and Rey started eagerly talking again, Ben’s eyes met his mother’s and he saw the faint smile on her face. She was mildly impressed with Rey and Ben’s chest swelled with pride. He still hadn’t let go of Rey’s hand and the way her mildly callused skin felt against his was familiar enough that Ben could draw every inch of it in his mind’s eye.

There was a break in Rey and Han’s enthusiastic conversation when the waiter came and took their order and Leia took advantage of that lull to ask for questions. After inquiring what Rey was studying in school, what she planned to do with that education, and a few more questions about her life, Leia was starting to warm up to her. Just as she was about to ask her more about Finn and Poe, Cora began to cry very suddenly. Rey was about to grab her, but Leia pushed her chair back and swept the girl up into her arms, trying to hush her quickly. Cora wasn’t having it and her crying continued until Rey stood and the child reached her chubby little arms out to her. 

“Mama!”

Leia’s eyes widened as she handed the girl over to Rey. Rey said nothing, but the instant Cora was in her arms she began to calm. Within a few moments, she was hiccupping softly, her tantrum broken. 

“You just wanted a little attention, didn’t you sweetheart?” Rey crooned softly and as she did, Cora turned her tear streaked face to hers and let out a heaving gasping sigh before burying her face in the Rey’s shoulder. Rey sat back down, Cora clinging to her and smiled.

“Sorry, sometimes she gets a little fussy around a lot of people, especially if we’re not watching her closely.”

“I think she needs a sibling,” Han replied, casting a knowing glance in Ben’s direction. As Leia scolded Han, Ben’s face was bright with embarrassment, his ears, concealed by his hair, were burning and he knew that if they were visible they’d be bright red. A glance to Rey showed him that she was suffering similarly.

“What?” Han said. “Ben is an only child and he could have used a sibling too. I think Cora should have at least one.”

Leia frowned at her husband. “Maybe that’s something we shouldn’t really talk about right now.”

An akward silence followed until they got their food, then it was filled with the sound of silverware on plates and exclamations about the quality of the food.

 

On the ride back to the house, Rey was uncharacteristically quiet. Ben could feel the tension in the air and it was vaguely uncomfortable. A few minutes in, Rey finally cracked. 

“Do you want more kids?” The question hung in the air and Ben gripped his steering wheel uncomfortably.

“Maybe someday,” he said, noncommittally. “Cora’s more than enough right now.”

He could feel her eyes on him while he was driving and he waited for her to speak.

“I’m young.”

“I am aware of that. It was an emotional quandary for a while.”

There was another brief bout of silence.

“I don’t know if I’d be ready for that for a long time.”

Ben shrugged. “We have Cora and I’m not in any hurry to have more kids.”

“What if I never want to have kids?” Rey’s voice was small and vulnerable. 

“We still have Cora. It’s your body, you get to decide what happens.”

When Ben glanced over at Rey, her face was scrunched up.

“You wouldn’t be upset if that never happened? Theoretically, way in the future?”

“You and Cora are all the family I need. I love you both and that’s good enough for me.”

Ben didn’t realize what he said until the next red light when he looked over at Rey whose face was a mixture of shock and confusion. 

“What?” Even as the word left his mouth, he was thinking about what he’d said and it dawned on him and there was a moment of pure horror.

“Shit. Shit. Forget I said that. That was not the way I wanted that to come out.”

Rey hadn’t stopped looking at him and from the corner of his eye, he saw her expression hadn’t changed.

“I’m sorry, did you just say that you loved me?”

“No?”

“Yes, you did! You just said you loved Cora and me and that’s good enough.”

Ben shifted uncomfortably, silently damning his father for being the reason this conversation was happening. “I suppose I did.”

“But you didn’t mean it, right?” 

“No, I did,” Ben replied, resigning himself to being the guy that kept blurting things out at the precise wrong time in their relationship.

“Isn’t it too soon for you to feel that way? It’s only been a couple of months.”

Ben shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s still true.”

“Are you sure you’re not infatuated with me?” Rey’s voice sounded strange, but Ben shook his head.

“I’m not infatuated with you. That implies that I idolize you and don’t see any imperfections. I love you, even though I tried to teach you how to make pasta sauce and we had to throw that pan away. I love you even though you have the coldest feet and you can’t get to sleep unless you rub then against my skin. And I love you even though you pummeled me with snow balls after the first snow of the year.”

Rey was still watching him and he was getting a little uncomfortable. 

“I don’t think I love you though. I mean, I like you a lot, but I don’t know if I’m there yet. How do you even realize it?”

“For me, it was sudden. I saw you one night and I thought ‘Yeah, that’s it. I’m so screwed.’ You might not be the same.”

“But you love me?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay.”

The silence that settled in the car was more comfortable now.

“What if I want to have 20 kids?”

“I draw the line firmly at nineteen.”

"Rude." 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Please don't hate me guys. Enjoy?**

True to her word, Rey immediately pulled out some of the plans she’d been working on for her classes. She and Han argued over a few of the finer points while Leia cleared her throat and asked Ben if he would mind making some coffee. When he left to the kitchen, she followed him, Cora settled on her hip. 

“I can’t believe how big she’s gotten,” his mother remarked casually, chucking her granddaughter under the chin. “She seems happier than she was before. More settled.”

“She is,” Ben replied. “We’ve settled in here nicely. Thank you again for everything you’ve done,” he added thoughtfully. “I don’t think that things would have worked themselves out so easily without your help.”

Leia smiled at her son. “You seem happier than you were before, too. You’re happier than I’ve ever seen you. You and your father haven’t really been able to spend this much time together without screaming at each other in since you were a child.”

“Well,” Ben started “it helps to have Rey as a barrier. She and dad have a lot of interests in common.”

“They have more than that in common,” Leia frowned. “Have you considered that Rey is very like your father?”

Ben shifted uncomfortably. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“I’m happy that you’re happy, but I’m also your mother and that gives me a right to say the obvious in this situation. I’m worried for you. She’s younger than you, considerably so, and still at a place in her life where she should be out and learning what she really wants in the world. I know that you care about her, but have you considered that might not be the best thing for her, and for you by extension?”

“In what way?”

“She should be learning about herself. She’s at an age where there are still so many things she hasn’t seen or experienced. Don’t you think that maybe by keeping her here with you and involving her in your life, your child’s life, you’re forcing her to grow up a bit prematurely? When you were her age, there’s no way that you would be ready for all the responsibilities associated with the life you have right now, but with her living here and with the two of you caring for each other the way you obviously do, you are thrusting some of those responsibilities on her. Your father was far older than her and had done a lot more in his life and he still wasn’t necessarily ready for a family and he left us more than once. If I would have known that was a possibility, I would have never married him, love or no. I doubt you want Cora to have the type of absentee parent that you did as a child.”

“Rey isn’t like that-”

“You don’t know that,” Leia insisted. “You’ve only known her for a handful of weeks. That’s hardly long enough to form a real assessment of her as a person. I want you to be happy Ben, but I don’t want you to make my same mistakes. I know that your father and I messed up a lot, and I know that the reason you ran away from us for so long was because we didn’t do the right things as parents, and I can never change that, but I can try to guide you in the decisions you make now.”

“I don’t think she’s like that” Ben replied, the uncertainty creeping into his own voice. “But I should be allowed to make my own decisions and my own mistakes. Not everything I do is a direct reflection of the things you did in your life.” His voice was steadier now. “And Rey is not Han. She adores Cora. She and I discussed this already.”

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Ben made a face. “That’s such a clichéd phrase.”

“Speaking of good intentions, your uncle is going to be in town soon and he was hoping to meet Cora.”

Ben’s eyebrow arched. “Luke? How is he going to be in town? He always busy.”

“Well, it’s going to be winter break soon and he’s working hard to try to get the stuff he’s got going wrapped up because he wants to spend Christmas with us.”

“Well, isn’t that a cozy family scene?” The sarcasm was dripping from Ben’s voice.

“Ben, please. You’re almost thirty, can’t you let all that go?”

Ben’s head was pounding, but Rey’s laughter rang out from the next room and he took a deep breath. “I’ll try.”

Rey suddenly poked her head into the kitchen. “Ben, you were an adorable baby!”

“Don’t lie to him,” came his father’s voice from the living room. 

“You brought pictures?” Ben was outraged.

Leia shrugged delicately. “We’re your parents, aren’t we supposed to embarrass you?”

Ben stumbled over his own feet and rushed to the living room, brushing past Rey gently, to where his father had jovially sorted stacks of pictures. It only took a brief glance down for Ben to see more than one naked baby picture of himself and he froze where he stood. 

“Really?”

Han smiled and winked. “I missed out on getting to do this type of thing before. Now I get to embarrass you the way I’m supposed to.”

Before Ben could say anything, Rey was beside him, swooping down to pick a picture off the coffee table of a gangly, awkward teenaged Ben in a private school uniform, his large ears sticking out awkwardly without the long hair to cover them and a scowl on his face.

“These are great. I wish I had pictures like this.”

Her gentle words made Ben feel instantly ashamed. The annoyance left him and he sighed heavily. He could hear his mother approaching from behind and it brought him back to their private conversation in the kitchen. 

Rey wasn’t like his father; she wouldn’t leave at the slightest provocation. 

 

A few hours later, his parents left and Ben was happy to see them go. He preferred his family in small, measure doses and spending half the day with them was more than he would ever ask for himself. As he and Rey waved goodbye, she slipped an arm around him and squeezed. 

“Your dad invited us to come to their place for Christmas,” she told him, and he looked down at her radiant face.

“He liked you a lot. He might like you more than me.”

“I doubt that,” Rey said with a laugh. She hiked Cora up a bit higher on her hip. “What do you think honey, do you wanna go to grandma and grandpa’s house for Christmas?”

Cora was unconcerned with what Rey was saying, focused as she was with chewing on and drooling all over the hoodie string she’d gotten in her mouth. Ben was ready to warn Rey about the potential damage to her sweatshirt when he looked more closely and realized how familiar it looked.

“Is that my hoodie?”

Rey’s cheeky grin told him what he needed to know and before he could say anything about it, she loudly declared Cora’s need for a nap and sauntered away. He watched her go, resolving that once Cora was asleep, he’d get his hoodie back, one way or another. 

 

They spent a lovely evening together, wrapped up in each other’s warmth. It was bitterly cold at nights now and Rey, who was exceptionally sensitive to the cold, would often curl into Ben’s side whenever they were in the same room. Ben did his best to keep the house warm for Rey and Cora, but it never seemed to help Rey. Even when Cora was cozy and Ben felt overheated, Rey would be bundled up in one of the plush throws in the living room. Ben had, on impulse, brought home for her some fuzzy, warm socks and she wore those almost constantly now.

“Are you feeling alright, Rey?” Ben finally asked when he felt her shaking from the cold in bed that evening.

Her teeth were chattering when she replied. “I don’t know. I just can’t seem to get warm.”

Ben turned on the bedside table and looked Rey over. Her normally tanned skin looked paler than usual and he frowned deeply at that realization. 

“Where are you the coldest?”

“My fingers and toes,” Rey replied through clenched teeth. “I’m not good with the cold. I lived in Arizona for most of my life. It never really got cold there. I still don’t think I’m used to it, even though I’ve been here for a few years.”

Ben took hold of one of her hands and it felt like ice. His worry intensified as he warmed her skin in his hands. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Ben asked.

“Just hold me.”

He did what she said, holding her as closely as he could. He could feel her shivers slowly subsiding after several excruciating minutes and eventually he felt her drift off to sleep. He held onto her even more closely, wishing there was a more permanent solution to her discomfort. 

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he realized he must have when he suddenly jerked awake. Rey was whimpering in her sleep again, obviously caught up in the throes of another terrible dream. Ben was trying to decide whether to wake her or not when she suddenly gasped and ripped herself out of his arms. He sat up and switched the light on again. Rey was out of bed and watching him, her eyes wild and her hair a riotous mess around her face. 

“I have the most terrible feeling,” Rey said, gasping the words out. 

Ben slid out of bed. “You’ve had a bad dream.”

“No, it’s more than that. Something doesn’t feel right.” She rushed past the bed, past him and wrenched the door open, taking off down the hallway. Ben followed behind her quickly, worrying about her. When she stopped in front of Cora’s room, Ben’s eyes narrowed. He and Rey always shut the door when they put Cora down to sleep, but now her bedroom door was wide open. Rey cast one fearful look over her shoulder before entering the bedroom. He heard her deep inhaled breath and he’d just stepped into the doorway when she flicked the light switch. 

Cora’s crib was empty.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If anyone is interested, I might throw in some segments from Rey's point of view in the next chapter. Let me know in the comments if that's something you'd be interested in.**

Ben was numb. Rey had collapsed to the floor and he just stood where he was, unable to move while she sobbed. It felt like he couldn’t breathe. Minutes passed and he still stood, paralyzed, unable to comprehend what was happening. He wanted to comfort Rey and to find his daughter, but he was stuck to that one spot, hearing nothing but a ringing and feeling his head pound with a ferocity he’d never felt before. It was Rey who called the police, Rey who phoned his parents, who called Finn and Poe, who frantically looked for a note or for any sign of what might have happened. She didn’t look at him, he thought she might not be able to. He watched her pace around, and whenever she was still his gaze flicked back to Cora’s crib. Each time he saw it, he expected to see her there, curled up and sleeping or awake and wondering at the commotion. But whenever he looked over, it was painfully quiet and vacant. His eyes stung, but he couldn’t cry. Crying meant that the terrible thing he must have been dreaming was real. Crying meant that his daughter had disappeared and he had no idea where she could be. 

When the police did arrive, he was still standing in the doorway, rooted to the ground, his eyes trained on his daughter’s empty crib. He finally responded after an officer gently tried to move him; he punched him in the face. When the man tried to brush him aside he’d felt the rage he’d suppressed for months swell up in him and he couldn’t hold back anymore. It was as if that simple action was a confirmation of his wildest fear and he’d let lose, unable to stop himself. In the distance, he thought he heard screaming. In an instant, he’d been shoved up against the wall while someone yelled at him. He struggled, slamming himself bodily into whoever was accosting him, forcing the man against the wall behind him before he brutally slammed the back of his head into the man’s face. He heard a crunch and the hands holding him released. Ben was wild now, and he eyed the several other men who’d heard the commotion and come running. He was ready for them and would have hurt them, but over the sea of heads, he saw Rey’s face, a picture of shock and fear. He stopped then, his strength leaving him and the fight went out of him as quickly as it came. 

He found himself cuffed, propped up against a wall in his living room and being monitored closely by the same officer whose eye he’d blackened. He was almost certain that the man was saying something to him, but that same curious rushing noise that had filled his head on the day that Cora was born was making him completely incapable of hearing what was being said. He looked around and saw Rey being comforted by Finn and Poe. He hadn’t even registered their arrival. Rey was shaking, her cheeks wet with the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing and Ben felt curiously inadequate. He hadn’t cried. He still couldn’t cry. His eyes hadn’t stopped stinging, but the tears wouldn’t come and it almost felt like his body was mocking him. He wanted to cry, knew that it was the appropriate response, but instead he sat stoically, his mind a jumbled whirl, his throat contracting and his eyes burning. 

Suddenly, he was being hauled to his feet and the handcuffs were being removed. He looked over and saw the same detective who’d worked with him and Rey to get the situation with Unkar sized up.

“Why the hell would you have him cuffed like that?”

The man was obviously yelling, but the noise was barely breaking through. Ben was only now vaguely aware of the strobing red and blue lights coming in through the front windows, though he dimly realized that they were from the police cars that had arrived earlier. He didn’t know how much earlier at this point. It was as though he was in a place where time no longer existed. He stood by aimlessly, watching the way the lights painted his house with color as he struggled to feel something. Anything would be better than this lethargic emptiness.

“He punched me!”

“Didn’t your wife just have your first kid? How would you feel if you went into his room and saw he wasn’t there? He’s in shock.”

Ben didn’t want to hear anymore. His limbs moved sluggishly as he made his way to Rey. Once he got close enough, Rey reached out to him. He took her into his arms, hardly feeling the weight of her when she wrapped her arms around him and pressed as closely to him as she could. His pulse was thudding in his head again and suddenly it was much too loud, as if all the sound in the room had suddenly come rushing back in a roar. He felt a hand gripping his arm and he stared at it, following the arm attached to it to a face. Finn was holding onto him, steadying him as he swayed. He felt a hand on his other arm and Poe was there too. He was distantly aware of how light his head felt, and how the room seemed to sway when he tried to focus on anything. He stopped trying to focus on anything, closing his eyes. Stars winked behind the lids and he wondered if he could have a single moment of silence or darkness to just settle and focus.

“…couch buddy.”

He caught the last couple of words Poe said and then Finn, Poe and Rey were pulling him onto the couch. He sat, staring at the windows. He realized that there were quite a few police cars now. He saw his neighbors on the sidewalk. There was caution tape partitioning off his home. Another police officer was talking to a woman in a thick coat. She was gesticulating animatedly and Ben watched because he had nothing better to look at.

“Mr. Solo.”

Ben glanced up. It was the detective again. He was struggling to remember his name. He knew it, but for some reason his mind couldn’t get it to the forefront of his brain. 

“There wasn’t a note, and we don’t see any sign of forced entry so far, but I have a personal theory.”

Ben straightened. This was what he needed. Information, as much as he could get of it. His brain was still hazy, but now he was struggling, grasping to pull himself out of the hole he was in. It was exceptionally difficult. 

“I was going to get in touch with you two this morning. It seems that Unkar Plutt managed to make bail at approximately 11:30 last night. I think that, in all likelihood, he is the one responsible.”

There was a keening noise, like a cat in pain, coming from right next to him. He turned his head and saw Rey with her hands over her mouth, eyes wide, her freckles standing out starkly against her pale skin. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her pale cheeks and comfort her, but he simply stared at her while her head moved back and forth and the tears that had only just stopped coming started to flow again with abandon. He heard her shudder out the phrase “It’s my fault” and he wanted to reassure her it wasn’t, but his tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth and for one wild moment he was afraid that he’d agree with her instead of denying it.

“We’re working on trying to locate his whereabouts. We have an alert out and every police officer in the area is looking for him. I just need to ask you a few questions.”

Ben nodded, dread curling in his stomach. 

“Did you hear something that made the two of you get out of bed?”

“No, Rey had a bad feeling and rushed to check on Cora.” The words came out slowly and it was a struggle to make his mouth form the shapes it took to produce those sounds

The detective turned to her. “You had a bad feeling?”

She nodded. “I don’t know what it was, I just wanted to reassure myself that everything was okay.” Ben saw the way her tears had dried in tracks down her cheeks. He reached out to touch one and found the texture slightly gritty beneath his fingers. 

The detective jotted something down in his notebook. “Aside from Mr. Plutt, can either of you think of anyone that might have any reason to want to take Cora?”

“Ben, would your ex…?” Rey’s voice trailed off and Ben stiffened.

“My ex-girlfriend’s name is Bazine Netal. I am unaware of where she might be, but she’s Cora’s biological mother. I don’t think she’d have gone through the trouble, but it’s a possibility. She has no legal rights to Cora. She signed them away when Cora was born.” His mind was slowly starting to clear. He was still trapped in a hazy darkness, but he was forcing his way out. 

The detective made another note on his pad. “Anyone else you can think of?”

“Not anyone at this moment.” Ben said, his voice calmer than he would have thought possible given the way he felt. “Rey?”

The girl shook her head. “Unkar is the only one outside of the people in this room who even really knows me. There’s no one else possible for me.”

The detective set down his pen. “It’s always possible that this was random. We’re going to tap your phones in case it’s a ransom situation and we have officers combing the area searching for your daughter. We’re going to find her.”

Ben hoped they were right, but before he could say anything else, the door burst open again and his parents rushed in. Ben was swept up in the commotion of telling his parents what was happening and didn’t notice Rey slip silently away. It wasn’t until the police officers packed up and left, with the exception of the detective, who’d reintroduced himself as Detective Taslin Brance, that Ben looked around for her. He was slowly coming back to himself and he realized the way his distance was likely hurting Rey. He couldn’t find her and when he’d asked everyone if they knew where she was, he was met with silence, followed by a frantic search. 

Her coat was gone, and more importantly, so was her car. Ben was out of his mind and Han took him aside, trying to calm him. When that didn’t work, the older man impulsively reached out to his son. Ben was awkward in his father’s embrace, but took a shuddering breath and dissolved, the tears he’d been holding back finally falling. 

“Where could she have gone?” Ben’s voice was plaintive. He was fighting the fear that she was somehow involved in the situation. He knew that couldn’t be the case, but a small part of him, the same part that had secretly agreed with the blamed Rey had placed on herself, wondered if that might be the truth.

“I don’t know, son. Maybe she needed to get away.”

Ben’s eyes found his mother’s and the conversation they’d had only hours earlier came to mind. He’d been so certain that Rey would never leave, but now she was gone and she’d left no clue as to where she was going. She’d disappeared like a puff of smoke when he needed her most. Wherever she was, Ben could only hope that he hadn’t been so wrong when he’d trusted her. 

But he’d made that same mistake before.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This chapter has large sections of Rey's POV. We're in the home stretch here now and I'm thinking we've got somewhere between 5 and 10 chapters to go before this is all wrapped up. Enjoy!**

Rey’s hands were bitingly cold. When Han and Leia had arrived, she’d seen that as an opportunity to make her way quietly out the back door. Leia had immediately taken charge, instructing police officers like a general while simultaneously comforting her son in a way that Rey hadn’t felt able to. Whenever she’d reached for him, she saw him flinch. After Detective Brance had told them that Unkar was his top person of interest, Rey saw the way that Ben had looked at her. Whether he’d realized it or no, his eyes had held a hint of blame in them and Rey realized that if she’d never entered his life, Cora would be happily asleep in her crib, rather than snuck out into the bitter cold.

Rey turned the heater on in her car, grateful she’d taken the time during the summer to fix it. Slowly, the car began to warm. She was driving to the jail that had held Unkar, determined to check every seedy bar in the surround area until she found someone who’d seen him. 

At the first two bars, no one knew who she was talking about. As she was leaving the second one, an inebriated man slapped her ass and she’d knocked him on his, threatened him with further bodily harm, and slammed the door behind her so hard that the glass in the pane shook slightly. 

The third bar was called Maz’s Castle. When Rey entered, several pairs of eyes fixed on her. It hadn’t mattered that she wasn’t of legal drinking age in this country, no one had asked for her identification yet. She made her way to the bar itself and a lumbering man behind it smiled at her leeringly.

“What can I get for you, babydoll.”

She frowned at the nickname, wanting to smack the lascivious look off the large man’s face. She didn’t have time for this.

“I’m looking for a man-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a guy on a stool a few feet away from her guffawed and downed his whiskey.

“I’m more than enough man for you, sweetheart.” He stood unsteadily to his feet and Rey resisted the urge to yell at him. 

“He goes by the name Unkar Plutt. He’s in his fifties, not much hair, large build, looks like an anthropomorphic toad.”

The bartender leaned over the bar conspiratorially. “I’m definitely a better man than the one you’re looking for. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take good care of you.”

Rey was rapidly losing her temper. She was getting ready to start screaming and throwing things, but as she leaned closer to the man’s face, getting ready shout into it, a reedy voice sounded from behind her.

“Siddon, behave yourself or that job you begged for is gone. Quiggold, I think you’ve had more than enough to drink. It’s time to settle up and get your ass out of my bar.”

Rey turned to see a minuscule woman in front of her. She was at least half a foot shorter than Rey, but there was something about her face that made Rey wary of crossing her.

“What was your name, dear?

“I’m Rey,” she told her, opting for the truth. 

“Maz,” the woman answered her unspoken question. “I own the place. Why don’t you come with me and tell me who you’re looking for and why.”

Rey followed the tiny woman to an office in the back and took the seat that Maz gestured to. She waited for the woman to perch herself on a chair that was elevated to make her appeal taller than she was. Maz took off her glasses and looked at Rey stoically. 

“Now, what’d going on?”

“I’m looking for a man called Unkar Plutt,” Rey started, but she was cut off. 

“I heard what you said before. Why are you looking for this toad man?”

Rey considered what to say. She decided to keep things simple. “He took my daughter. I’m going to get her back.”

The woman leaned back in her chair, surverying Rey carefully. “How old is she?”

Rey’s throat tightened and she tried to speak about the lump forming there. “She’s almost nine months old. Please, if you know anything, you must tell me. The longer she’s with him, the more danger she’s in. He will not take care of her. She needs to come home.”

“He was here, pounding back drinks a few hours ago, around midnight. He disappeared after having more than most men should in an hour. I overheard him say he has unfinished business. I believe he almost mentioned a motel not far from here.”

“What’s the name of the motel?” Rey’s pulse was quickening. She could find Cora and take her home to Ben before the sun even rose and maybe they could forget about this awful night. 

“Stardust,” Maz told her. “It’s very close, less than a mile away. You can’t miss it.”

Rey nodded, she’d seen the place on her way here and had thought that it looked like the perfect place to get bedbugs. 

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Rey said, offering a hand to Maz, who took it and shook it firmly.

“There’s no need,” Maz replied. “Go get your girl.”

 

Ben was pacing frantically when Finn gently touched his shoulder. 

“It going to be okay. I know Rey, she’s probably trying to find Unkar.”

Ben stopped midstride, whirling to see the troubled look on Finn’s face.

“What happens if she finds him? The last time he was near her, he threatened to kill her. If he’s managed to kidnap my daughter to lure Rey to him, he’s going to have a plan. That plan isn’t going to be good. We have to find them both.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “Of course!” He said in a near shout, causing all eyes to turn to him. “We share locations with each other on our phones. I’m an idiot for not thinking of it before. I can find her!”

Ben watched as Finn whipped his phone out and hurriedly looked through it. Everyone gathered around the young man, trying to see where Rey was. She was nearly 20 miles away and Detective Brance cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. 

“She’s not far from the prison.” 

Ben knew what was happening. She was trying to find Plutt, trying to recover Cora. She hadn’t left him, she was trying to do what she could to help. 

“We’ve got to go,” Ben said. “She could be in danger.”

“What’s more,” Brance added, “she could have found Plutt.”

It took a few minutes for Ben to convince Brance that he needed to come with him. The man kept trying to force him to stay at his house, saying that Ben needed to be there in case there was any break in the case. After he’d reiterated more than once that his parents would be there, the detective threw his arms up and declared that he couldn’t stop Ben. Han immediately declared his intent to come as well. 

“If you two are going,” Finn said, “then so am I. Rey’s my best friend. You’re not going to leave me behind.”

“I have to go too, then.” Poe decided aloud. “I’m not going to let you go gallivanting off into danger without me.”

Detective Brance threw his arms in the air and Ben glared at his father and the two other men in turn.

“Poe, you need to stay here,” Finn said. “Stay with Leia, she needs someone here with her just in case.”

“My father can stay with her,” Ben protested, but Han was trying to talk over him. 

“There’s no way in hell I’m staying here when my granddaughter is somewhere out there. Even if you tell me to stay, I’m getting in my damn car and following you.”

It took longer than Ben was comfortable with for them to decide that he, Han, and Finn would go to find Rey. Leia and Poe were both shouted down when they tried to say that they were going to follow and they each cast a searing glare at their respective partners, but sat, angrily on the couch.

Ben could only hope that the argument hadn’t made them too late.

 

Rey had slipped a crisp twenty into the hand of the man manning the desk at the motel in order to convince him to tell her what room Unkar was in. She was standing in front of the door now, crowbar in hand. She fitted one end into the place where the door met the frame and heaved against it, prying the door open. 

She entered, crowbar in hand and heard the cursing. Unkar was there, yelling at her. She looked around. 

“Where’s Cora?”

“What the fuck are you on about?” he said. Rey glowered at him, wondering how she could have ever been afraid of such a man. She saw him as he was now, not hugely taller than her, old, overweight, pathetic. 

“Where. Is. Cora?” She hefted the crowbar, swung it, knocking over a lamp while the man cursed and threw his arms in front of his face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“The little girl,” Rey screamed, slamming the crowbar into the small table. She saw the man flinch at the splintering wood. “Where the fuck is she?”

“I don’t know! I don’t have her.”

Rey didn’t believe him for a second. “I swear, if you’ve hurt one hair on her head-”

“I don’t have her. I don’t know where she is. I don’t even know who bailed me out of jail! I don’t have the kind of money that takes, and they wouldn’t tell me. Your little girl isn’t here.”

Rey felt a flood of anger. Maybe he was telling the truth, she thought, her hands tightening on the crowbar, or maybe he just needed the right motivation.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I've read all of the comments, wondering if anyone was going to guess the twist. By the end of this chapter, I'm sure most of you are going to know where some of this is going. I encourage you to theorize in the comments. I've left a lot of clues in the previous chapters, but I think a lot of them will only be obvious once we get to the end of this. Enjoy!**

The solid thwack that the crowbar makes when it collides with Unkar’s large middle should make Rey realize that what she’s doing is wrong. Instead, it inflames her and she thinks of all the times he made her feel powerless, starved her, smacked her for talking back. She rears back and as he turns to retreat, she slams it into the back of his knee. He falls to the ground, grunting. Rey’s head feels foggy and she feels the metal biting into her skin. 

“Please, stop! I don’t have what you want.”

Rey is beyond caring. She advances on him, eyes narrowing. 

“But I did, didn’t I?” Her breath comes in soft pants as she recalls the way he’d cornered her more than once, breathed his stinking whiskey breath in her face while slurring that she was a beautiful woman now. “You are pathetic. You took advantage of me. You were supposed to protect me! That’s what you do when you take a child into your home. You make them feel safe and wanted. You don’t scare them and make them worry if they’ll do good enough to eat that day.”

The man was still on his back, crawling away from her in an awkward shuffling way. He looked like a crab trying desperately to avoid being eaten. The cold metal felt good in Rey’s hands and she raised it again, ready to deliver another blow.

When she tried to swing, she found resistance. She looked up and saw a pale hand had closed over the curved neck of her crowbar. She felt and arm, warm and familiar wrap itself around her front and then she was being crushed against the contours of a familiar male body and the warm scent of Ben filled her nostrils. She was being pulled back and away from the man crumpled on the floor in front of her. She recoiled with horror when she realized how far she’d allowed herself to go. She let go of the crowbar and Ben tossed it away, the metal making a loud clang when it hit the ground. She felt herself start to shake, the adrenaline in her having no output and bouncing around her taut muscles. Ben pulls her closer, as if he’s trying to absorb her quaking and still her body. She tilts her head back, resting it against his chest and hears his rapidly beating heart. 

“Rey, love, it’s okay. I’m here now. I’m sorry I took so long to find you. I’m sorry for every second I spent doubting you. I love you. I was so scared when you were gone. Don’t do that. Don’t leave again.”

Rey somehow knew that all the things he was saying were words that were more for him than for her. He’s still muttering reassurances that she’s okay, but the words aren’t hitting her ear right and it just sounds like buzzing. She looks down at her hands, freed from the burden on the metal. She’d been holding onto it hard enough that the rough, nicked edges had made small cuts in her skin. Ben’s hand, now free of the crowbar as well, found its way to her jaw and he tilted her face up, pressing erratic, quick kisses to her face. She closes her eyes and feels the warmth of his lips pressed against her forehead, cheeks and every available surface. She can feel the tension in him and she knows it’s her fault. She shouldn’t have left him alone. 

“You weren’t supposed to run ahead of us!” Detective Brance’s voice was labored. “How did you know which room he was in without going to the front desk?”

“The door was open,” Ben said. “And I heard the bastard’s blubbering as I got closer.”

Ben turned them around then. Rey was still safely ensconced in his arms and she saw the way the three men could hardly squeeze into the front of the motel room without pressing into each other. Finn’s face was fierce and Han just looked relieved. Detective Brance was clearly frustrated, his annoyance clear in every line of his face.

“He says he doesn’t know anything about Cora,” Rey said, and the sound of her own flat voice shocked her. 

“Did you use that crowbar on him?” Brance’s voice sounded incredulous. 

“I—”

“I stopped her before she did more than trip him up. Its fine.” Ben cut in, his tone sharp. “She was distraught. I don’t think she knew what she was doing. This man has stalked and harassed her and she’s dealing with the stress from that. I doubt, after all the truth is revealed, there’s a jury in the world who won’t think she’s been a little justified.” 

Brance placed his hands on his hips. “Just get her out of here. I’ll deal with this mess. But if neither of you could beat anyone else up tonight, that would help me out considerably.”

“Are we supposed to go back home?” Rey asked, her voice trembling now. That sounded more like what her response should be.

“Yes. I’ll follow you back there…as soon as I can.”

As Ben led her past the detective, and then Finn and Han, Rey heard Han whisper “Nice job kiddo”. Ben clearly heard it too, as he cast a stern glance towards his father. Finn reached out to her and she looked at his hand on her shoulder, following it up his arm to his face. The fierce look was gone and he just looked deeply sad. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but snapped it shut after a moment of silence. 

Ben was still steering her, arms on her biceps. Her car was parked not far away which was good because snow had started to fall gently and the cold was biting into her in a way that burned. 

“I’m driving.” His tone was clipped and Rey cringed. 

They rode in silence for a few minutes before Ben started in on her. 

“What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that it was my fault and I wanted to fix it.”

“Rey,” Ben’s eyes flicked off the road to hers for a moment. “None of what has happened has been your fault. None of what Unkar has done has ever been your fault. The fault lies in him and him alone.”

She tried to protest, tried to insist that she’d complicated Ben’s life by coming into it, but he wouldn’t let her. 

“It’s not your fault. Not what’s happening with Cora, not what happened a few months ago, and certainly not what happened to you when that bastard had custody of you.”

She blinked away the tears in her eyes. Finn had told her that a dozen times, but Rey had always secretly believed that somehow, she was to blame for some of what had happened to her. Ben was not going to let her. 

“What are we going to do?” She whispered. He knew without asking what she meant. He reached a hand across and gripped hers.

“We’re going to find our daughter.”

 

Ben kept trying to convince Rey to go to sleep, but she refused and sat stubbornly on the couch, looking haunted. Ben was watching his mother regard her with something akin to respect as he told the story of what happened and where they found Rey.

“I’d be more aghast,” Leia said with a sniff, “If I didn’t do something similar when I was your age.”

Ben’s eyebrow raised and Han launched into the colorful story in which his mother nearly killed a man called Jabba after he’d made the mistake of attempting to force her into kissing him. Rey still didn’t move, although he could tell that she was comforted by the knowledge that his mother wasn’t horrified. Ben sat next to Rey and wrapped an arm around her, hauling her up to his side until she was nearly on top of him. 

Ben’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he scrambled to get it, hoping it was a phone call from whoever had Cora. It was an email, and he almost threw his phone. He took a steadying breath and looked at it. The message was from an unfamiliar email address and he nearly sent it to spam, but his finger hovered over it. The message title said “Kylo Ren”. He shot a furtive glance around the room and opened it.

The email contained a picture of Cora and a brief message. _“We have your daughter. Further instruction will follow. Tell no one if you want to see her again.”_

Ben clenched a fist at his side. There was only a select number of people who called him Kylo Ren and none of them were people he’d want anywhere near his child.


	18. Chapter 18

Ben was checking his phone every few minutes, anxiously awaiting another email. His mother had, exhausted, gone to the guest room for a few hours of sleep. Rey alternated between pacing and collapsing hopelessly back onto the couch while Finn and Poe watched her with wary eyes. Han was, surprisingly, holding up the best. He’d gone out and gotten everyone donuts and coffee and was trying to get them talking about potential kidnappers. Ben wanted to snap at him, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was running on empty and his temper was fraying substantially. He finally stood from his spot on the couch and muttered that he needed to clear his head, take a walk and be alone for a while. He felt Rey’s eyes on him as he retreated.

The cold air stung his cheeks as he made his way down his street, hoping his phone would chime and he’d have another email. It had been over an hour since the last one and his worry that they wouldn’t contact him again was a constant plaguing thought digging at his mind. He worried for his daughter, wondering who was watching over her and wondering if they were taking care of her. He doubted that they would try to soothe her in anyway, and the fact that she was often fussy and scared around stranger made him worry further; she would undoubtedly be upset, possibly screaming, and that wouldn’t make her captors particularly inclined to be kind to her. 

The air was burning in his lungs and Ben wanted to go home, but he couldn’t stand the idea of returning. Everyone would just be sitting around, hoping for the best and waiting for Detective Brance to arrive and hopefully tell them any good news. But Ben knew there wasn’t going to be any. He wanted to tell them the truth, that his past mistakes had caught up with him, and beg for help, but he was afraid. He couldn’t do anything that might put Cora at risk. 

One thing was certain, once she was safe, Ben would find a way to deliver swift revenge.

 

Rey knew that Ben was hiding something. It was obvious in the way his already taut muscles tensed further whenever he looked at his phone. Even though he hadn’t moved from the couch, he still seemed like a wild animal, feral and ready to pounce. She wasn’t surprised when he’d declared his need for a walk and as she watched him leave, she wondered if he was just going to do what he said. When the door clicked shut behind him, she turned to her friends and Han.

“He knows something and he doesn’t want us to know that he knows.”

“How can you tell?” Finn asked, his voice rough with fatigue.

“I just know. I can feel it. He’s hiding something.” Rey looked out the front window, but Ben was making his way down the street in a way and at a pace that implied leisure. 

“He is,” Han said. “He might think he’s smooth about it, but this is the same kid who thought that he could get away with keeping a stray cat in his room and no one would notice. He’s not subtle.”

Rey’s mouth quirked up in a half smile when she remembered all the non-subtle things Ben had done in the time she’d known him, but she immediately felt ashamed. Cora was missing, there was nothing that should have made her smile. 

“I want to chase him down,” Rey said before she let the curtain fall back into place, “But I think he does need to clear his head.”

“Maybe if he does,” Han grumbled, “he’ll stop being so damn stubborn and ask for help.”

Rey forced herself to sit and felt helpless as she waited for Ben to return. When she wondered if he’d felt the same way she did now when he discovered she was gone, she braced her head in her hands and silently let a few more tears trickle down the sides of her nose until the dropped and disappeared into the rug. 

 

Ben’s phone finally buzzed in his pocket and he scrambled for it, nearly dropping it in his haste. There was another email. It contained an address that was not far away and a short message

_Come alone. Tell no one._

Ben steeled himself and made his way back to his home. He slid into his car and tried to make as little noise as possible when he drove away.

 

It seemed strange to Ben that he was pulling into the driveway of a house. The porch light was on, and Ben stared at the cheery looking little place, wondering what awaited him. His phone buzzed again.

_Come in_

He knew he was being closely monitored. He’d realized that when the second email hadn’t come until he’d left the relative comfort and safety of his home, but the suspicion was confirmed with this new email. Ben was disquieted and wishing that he’d thought to give himself any sort of weapon. His shoes crunched on the snow as he approached the door. When he tried the knob, it was unlocked and he pushed the door open, stepping inside.

 

Rey was worrying about Ben. He’d been gone for longer than she thought he would. She was getting ready to try to wander off after him when her phone chimed. Han, Poe, and Finn were in a deep, serious discussion with hushed tones and she glanced up at them before palming her phone. She had a text message from an unknown number. She unlocked her phone and felt her hands grow cold. It was a picture of Cora and an address. Another message appeared beneath it. 

_Come alone._

Rey glanced at the men and quietly slipped away into the kitchen. She and Ben had taken to leaving a notepad stuck to the fridge and she jotted down a quick message onto it, leaving the address and her reason for leaving. She then made her way to the back door and slid out of the house into the chilling cold. 

She had a bad feeling about this. 

 

The house was quiet and dark. Ben was creeping his way through the first room when he was nearly blinded by the sudden brightness. The lights had switched on, but directly into his eyes someone was flashing an exceptionally bright flashlight. He was momentarily disoriented, but it was long enough for someone to slam something hard and sharp into his head. The pain exploded in his temple and he saw bright red before everything went black again. 

When he regained his senses, he was tightly secured to thick, heavy wooden chair, a black bag around his head. He flexed his fingers, and tried to move, but the restraints cut into his skin. He heard a sniggering laugh that sounded very familiar.

“Hux?”

The bag was ripped off his head and after a few rapid blinks, his eyes focused on his former friend’s face. The redhead did not look good. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was thinner than normal, bordering on gaunt. He looked sickly, but the smile across his lips was wolfish and predatory. 

“Good to see you again Ben. You look well.”

Ben’s jaw tightened. “I can’t say the same. Where’s my daughter?”

Hux towered over him and Ben got the impression that he was enjoying being taller than him for once. “She’s fine, sleeping safely down the hallway. My sister is watching her quite reluctantly.”

“Sister?” As far as Ben knew, Hux was an only child. 

“Oh, yes,” Hux’s smile increased in size. It seemed less like a smile now and more like an animalistic baring of teeth. “You’ve met her just recently.”

The pieces suddenly clicked into place and Ben felt like kicking himself for not seeing the similarity in their faces. They shared the same fine boned features and fiery ginger hair. 

“Catherine.” His voice was flat.

“Yes, Catherine. She did an amazing job, didn’t she? But Ben, I can’t believe you didn’t know better. She’s a pretty woman, why would she be interested in you that strongly unless she wanted something? Hasn’t that just been the theme of your life?”

Ben was trying to tamp down on his rage and rising panic. Catherine had put up no pretense when it had come to her distaste for Cora. He was afraid what she might do if his daughter began wailing as she would often do in the presence of strangers. He hoped she’d stay asleep until this whole ordeal is over.

“What do you want, Hux?”

“I want to see you suffer,” the man answered simply. 

“What the fuck did I ever do to you?”

Color flushed Hux’s face. “You left. You quit with almost no notice, leaving a mess or biblical proportions behind in your wake. I lost my job. Apparently, without you, Snoke decided I was useless. He fired me immediately.”

Ben’s eyebrows rose. “You’re doing this because of a job?”

The man leaned closer to Ben’s face. He could smell the rank scent of sweat and whiskey. “I’m doing this because you ruined my life. You ruined my career. You left me without so much as a word. We were friends and then you disappeared because you had ‘a family now’. What about me? I’d known you for twelve years.” The bitterness in Hux’s voice was strong. “I stupidly thought that eventually you’d come around and see the truth, but no, you’re too obstinate. You’d rather fuck manipulative con artists and stupid teenage whores.”

Ben’s hands fisted and the restraints around his wrist flexed deep enough into the skin than warm liquid coated his skin and he knew without looking that his skin had split open and blood was oozing out. 

“Maybe if I take all of that away, you’ll finally see that I’m the only constant in your life. You should want me.” Hux hissed the words, anger making his face hard. “I’m the only person who has ever really cared for you. Your parents are only there when it’s convenient. Bazine only wanted your money. Rey,” Hux paused, scoffing derisively, “is nothing but a scavenger, grasping for a man to take care of her.”

Ben shifted in his chair, his anger building to a breaking point. 

“This is about you and me,” he told Hux. “Leave Rey and Cora out of this.”

“It’s about everything!” Hux exploded. He ran his hands through his unkempt hair. “I made you, I am going to unmake you.”

There was a noise in the hallway behind him and Hux whirled around. 

“Catherine, shut the fuck up.” He turned back and Ben saw madness etched in every line in the man’s face. “What should we take care of first? Your daughter, or should I make the little scavenger girl come here? You can watch me do terrible things to her. I’ll bet she breaks first.”

Before Hux could utter another threat, Ben saw a flash of something and a sickening crack. The man fell to the floor and suddenly Rey was in front of him like a vengeful goddess, clutching the crowbar again, her eyes like pools of fire. 

“Fuck you.”

“Rey?” Ben could hardly believe that she was there. He wondered if he was concussed and this was some strange side effect of the blow to his head, but she set the crowbar down, stepped over Hux’s crumpled form and worked on undoing his restraints. He felt her cold hands against his too hot flesh and a rush of relief filled him. 

“Cora’s fine,” she told him as she freed one of his hands. “Catherine isn’t. She’s in a similar state to this one, but I tied her up and moved her to a different room just in case.”

Ben realized the noise that had infuriated Hux must have been from Rey moving Catherine and he breathed a sigh of relief when both of his hands were free. He reached into his coat pocket and grimaced when his phone wasn’t there. 

“We need to call the police.”

She handed him her phone, but even as she did, they both heard the sirens. “I left a note in the kitchen. It seems like someone already called them.” 

With his hands free, he helped her finish untying him. He was completely untied by the time the police kicked down the door. 

In the end, Cora was fine. Her diaper needed to be changed and she was grumpy from being woken up multiple times and she screamed when they paramedics checked her over, but she was given an all clear quickly. Ben did have a concussion, but he declined medical treatment, wanting to go home instead. Finn, Poe, and his parents arrived when Ben and Rey were being checked over and his mother rushed to them, crying.

She cupped Ben’s face in her hands and looked him over, her tears still falling freely. When she turned to Rey, her tears fell even harder. 

“I will never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for my family” she choked out. “I don’t want to think of how this night could have gone without you.”

Rey wrapped the older woman in an embrace and Ben watched as his mother clung to Rey. He looked past them to his father who was approaching with less speed. When he finally got to the two of them, he wordlessly hugged his son. Ben accepted the gesture and when he felt his father’s hug grow tighter, he knew that Han had been as worried as he’d been, quite possibly more than he’d been. 

He saw police leading away Hux and Catherine, unceremoniously shoving them into police cars and hoped that this would be the end of the insanity that had plagued his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **All that's left after this is Christmas and an epilogue. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me though this with me.**


	19. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Here's a longer chapter for you. Only the epilogue to go and this story is done! Another huge thanks to all of you for supporting me on this journey! I hope you enjoy this Christmas chapter.**

Christmas was only a week away now and Ben still wasn’t sure what to get Rey. Between the two of them, Cora was going to get such a large amount of presents that they’d happily stayed up wrapping until nearly two in the morning the night before, but as Ben waited for his mother to arrive at the restaurant for lunch, he realized that at least half a dozen of the ideas he’d had for her would be rejected out of hand as being too elaborate. 

As he puzzled, his mother swept elegantly to the table and sat down, unwinding her scarf. She smiled at Ben and titled her head when she saw his intense expression. 

“Benny, what’s wrong?”

He tried not to wince at the nickname, knowing it was just a term of affection, but somehow it always struck him wrong. It felt like his mother was forcing something.

“Nothing, I’m just trying to figure out what I should get Rey for Christmas.”

“Ah,” Leia grinned. “Your father and I were discussing that and we were thinking about getting her a car. The one she has now isn’t suitable for hauling my granddaughter around, and it would be a nice gesture. Your father is trying to convince me to get her one of those project cars. I think he’s chomping at the bit for an opportunity to spend every weekend with her fixing up an old classic car together. I want to get her something new, safe, and secure.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “She would never accept it. I got her a nice winter coat and she went all panicky on me over the expense of it. She’s not used to gifts.”

Leia’s back straightened. “She’ll get used to it. She’s part of the family now and she’s just going to have to grow accustomed to the fact that I’m going to interfere with her daily life as much as possible.” She smiled warmly at her son. “How else am I going to show my affection? In a normal, healthy way?”

Ben snorted at that, acknowledging the truth of the statement even while feeling exasperated by his mother.

“Rey is actually the reason I wanted to have lunch with you, Ben.”

He looked at his mother very seriously. “You’re not going to try to convince me to get her an engagement ring for Christmas, right? She hasn’t even told me she loves me yet.”

“Well,” Leia sniffed, “as much as I’d like for you to make her a part of the family before she realizes just what type of family she’s getting herself involved in, that’s not the case. My sources finally got back to me with the information you’ve wanted and…it’s not what I expected at all.”

Ben leaned forward. “You found her parents?”

Leia nodded. “They’re dead. They have been for over ten years. It seems that they got into a car accident when Rey was a child. One of the police officers who was on the scene said that she was with her parents when it happened, but somehow, in the rush of things, she managed to wander off. When she finally was found, she was in a completely different state and the police officers who did find her didn’t think she had anything to do with a missing child in another state. It was not the best piece of police work.”

Ben wasn’t sure if he was relieved that Rey’s parents hadn’t, in truth, abandoned her or if he was profoundly saddened by the news. 

“Her grandfather spent years looking for her, though.”

“Grandfather?”

“Yes, apparently, he was very close to Rey. He adored her and he spent the rest of his life trying to find her. He died less than a year ago.”

Ben’s stomach tightened. She’d missed out on meeting her only family by a few months. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain that to her. 

“His name was Obi Wan Kenobi,” Leia said. “Actually, he was Sir Obi Wan Kenobi. He was a pilot in the same war as your grandfather, though he was a few years older. When the war was over, he was knighted for his bravery and came home and settled down with a substantial fortune. He left all of it to his granddaughter.”

“What? Can you even leave money to a missing person?” Ben was astonished.

“Yes, but he stipulated that she’d have ten years following his death to collect before that fortune was donated. She’s well within that time frame. I think that she’s going to have to become a little more comfortable with money. The Kenobi family was even more wealthy than the Organa family. Your girlfriend is richer than you.”

“She won’t really care about that,” Ben guessed. “It’ll be more important to her that someone never stopped looking for her.”

 

It was December 20th and Ben still didn’t know what to get Rey for Christmas. He was really starting to panic now. After his lunch with his mother, he’d given Rey the file of information his mother had presented to him and watched her read it, tears swimming in her eyes. Cora had been in her lap and was trying desperately to take the papers away from Rey. When Ben had offered to hold her, Rey’s grip tightened on the girl and she shook her head. 

Since Cora’s abduction, the two of them had been loath to let the little girl out of their sight. Cora was exceptionally pleased by that fact. She was pulling herself up everywhere now and Ben had bought her a little cart to push, hoping that would help her learn the movements of walking. 

When Rey got to the end of the packet, she looked up at Ben in astonishment. 

“How did you find this out?”

“I asked my mother to use some of her connections to try and ferret out the truth a few weeks ago. She managed to get all that together and I wanted you to know the truth right away.”

“They never really abandoned me,” Rey said. Her voice was small and tight, as if she was speaking around a lump in her throat. “Rey Kenobi. Hello, my name is Rey Kenobi.” She looked back to Ben and smiled. “I have a real last name.”

Ben knelt in front of her. “I love you, Rey Kenobi.”

“I love you, Ben Solo.”

Ben’s heart thudded in his chest. “You do?”

“Well, I loved Cora first and it seems like the two of you are a package deal—”

“Rey, be serious.”

She shot him a cheeky grin. “Yes, I love you. I probably have for a while, but it clicked for me right now. You found my family for me and now I feel like I have a new one, too.”

Warmth settled into Ben’s heart. “Say it one more time.”

“I love you Ben Solo.”

 

It was the Christmas Eve and Ben, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Cora were all crammed in Ben’s car on their way to the Organa-Solo home. The present Ben had for Rey was tucked in his coat pocket and he felt a thrum of excitement when he thought about giving it to her. She was in the back seat, laughing at something Finn had said and he checked the pocket once more for the small box.

“You too, huh?” Poe’s quiet question caught him off guard and he glanced over and saw a small velvet box in the man’s hands. “This might be a little awkward.”

Ben laughed and the noise in the back seat stopped as Rey and Finn, who were now competing to see who could make Cora shriek with laughter loudest stopped pulling ridiculous faces and looked at him.

“What did I miss?” Rey queried. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Ben responded and Poe laughed at her annoyed huff.

“It’s worth waiting for,” Poe told Rey. “I can guarantee you’re going to get a kick out of it.”

Rey rolled her eyes and then brightened, crossing them and whipping back towards Cora whose screech of laughter was loud enough that Rey was immediately declared the winner by a grumbling Finn.

“I can wait,” Poe said. “It’s your family thing.”

“You’re family too,” Ben replied. “And honestly, I think Rey is going to be thrilled both ways.”

As Ben pulled into his parent’s driveway, Poe clapped him on the shoulder. Ben realized this was one of the first time he was going to his parent’s house without feeling a sense of dread. 

 

Ben watched as Rey managed to slip into the workings of his family like she always belonged. Between laughing at his father’s inappropriate jokes, listening seriously to his Uncle Luke’s earnest discussions, talking to his mother about Cora, and playing chess with Chewbacca, his honorary uncle, she seemed to fit in a way that he never felt he had. Poe and Finn had also established a sense of comradery with his family, but that was unsurprising; Poe was always charming and Finn seemed to inspire trust in everyone he met. 

“Benny! Help me with these cookies” Leia called out to him, pulling him from his reverie. 

“You never make cookies, Mom.”

Leia laughed. “That’s why I need your help! You’re the one who knows how to cook.”

As Ben made his way past his friends and family, stopping briefly to press a kiss Cora’s head while Rey held her and then, unable to resist, kissing Rey herself, he thought about the reason he knew how to cook.

Hux.

Just thinking about the man and what he’d planned on doing made his stomach clench. Hux, normally calm and collected, had revealed the truth as he’d been led away. Jealous, unemployed, and angry, he’d decided to punish Ben by destroying the two people he cared about the most: Cora and Rey. Catherine had been a willing participant in the scheme, but had deviated from the plan by using her personal cell phone to draw Rey out. She and her brother were more alike than they wanted to admit and even though she’d never been truly interested in Ben, her ego still smarted at the idea that he’d choose someone like Rey over her.

Neither of them had been expecting Rey to be so formidable. Frankly, neither had Ben, but after the confrontation they’d talked and agreed that, while they hoped that something of that nature would never happen again, they wanted to have more information on how to protect themselves, so once a week Finn and Poe happily babysat Cora while they took self-defense classes. Ben had been shocked to discover that even though he was much larger than Rey, she’d been able to take him down a few times. The exercise had been good for them, and Ben found himself losing his temper less.

“Ben, are you paying attention to anything I’m saying to you?” Leia sounded exasperated.

“Not a single word,” Ben replied honestly and Leia huffed.

“Somethings never change. I was asking if Rey got the DNA results back yet.”

“Oh,” Ben measured out some sugar for the cookies and added it to the flour. “She did actually. She’s really overwhelmed by the amount of money she’s inheriting.”

“Well, I’m glad she has her answers now.”

“More than that, she’s going to be receiving a package in the mail soon that the executor of her grandfather’s will says is full of pictures of her family. That’s what she’s most excited about, honestly. She could take or leave the money, but having those pictures will make her happy whenever she looks at them.”

Leia hummed in contentment. “I’m happy for you. I still can’t believe you found her in a grocery store.”

Ben looked over the countertop into the living room where Rey was handing a happy Cora over into the eager but gentle hands of Uncle Chewie. “Neither can I, but plums are my favorite fruit now.”

 

“Well, I can never seem to find a woman who doesn’t seem to mind my line of work.” Chewie responded to Rey’s gentle prodding question with a shrug that made the little girl he was holding squeal and hold tighter to him. “It takes someone who has a strong backbone and thick skin to deal with the kind of people I have to talk to daily. Han married the only woman I’ve met with the gumption, so I’m still just hoping.”

Rey’s smile was bright. “How do you feel about petite women? I know this woman named Maz who owns a bar and would probably kick your ass without hesitation. She’s a good person, too.”

Chewie’s head tilted to the side and he grinned. “Where’s this bar? Maybe I’ll make a stop in there.”

 

They’d tucked into a delicious catered meal and everyone was happily talking to each other, satiated and draped on couches. Cora had been put to bed a while ago and the family was drinking coffee and laughing over some of the antics of a young Han and Luke. Ben had his arm wrapped around Rey who settled into his side as comfortably as if she’d always been there. 

“I’ve been trying to find a new place,” Poe casually mentioned to Luke, who upon realizing that Finn was a college professor had been stuck to his side most of the night. “I live close to campus right now, which is great, but it can be a little awkward. Running into students outside of class isn’t that big of a deal, but when you run into them while you and your boyfriend are buying beer, it becomes a little more awkward. It was hard enough when Finn and I started dating, but we’re still under constant scrutiny.” 

“Not for much longer,” Finn added. “I only have one more semester before I graduate, then we can just be a normal couple.”

Ben felt Rey sit up straighter. “The family that lives next door is selling their house. Apparently, Ben and I have the police come to the house ‘too much’ and she thinks that the neighborhood is going downhill, so she’s moving.”

Ben laughed. “In all fairness to her, we’ve only been there a few months and the police have come in large numbers twice. I understand where she’s coming from.”

Poe shook his head. “I’d love to buy a house, especially one in that neighborhood, but there’s no way I can afford it right now.”

“I can, though” Rey replied. “Apparently, I don’t ever have to worry about money again. Finn took me in when I needed him, I’d like to repay the favor. And if the two of you live next door to us, I know I’ll like my neighbors.”

Finn was sputtering. “That’s too much, Peanut! We couldn’t accept that.”

Rey was resolute and Ben watched the stiffening of her shoulders with a smile. “You gave me a home, I give you one. It’s an even trade.”

Before Finn could protest further Ben butted in. “Just say yes. We both know that once she sets her mind to something, it’s happening.”

Poe grinned. “I’ll say yes. If we have a home, then we can start filling it with kids.”

Finn rolled his eyes at Poe’s enthusiasm. “We’d have to be married before any agency would think of letting us have a kid.”

Ben met Poe’s eyes and the man looked at him beseechingly, asking him without words if he was okay with it. Ben grinned and gestured vaguely and Poe took Finn’s hand, his free hand fumbling in his pocket. 

“Surprise,” Poe said before tugging the box out of his pocket and sinking down onto one knee. Ben heard Rey’s sharply indrawn breath. 

“Poe?”

“From the moment we met, I knew that you were special. You made me laugh and I’ve always felt comfortable with you. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you in it. Marry me?”

The room was silent as everyone held their breath waiting. 

“Yes!”

There were shouts of congratulations and everyone wanted to hug the newly engaged couple. Ben watched the way that Rey embraced her two best friends. She was crying and Ben was struck by the realization that these were the first happy tears he’d ever seen from her. He liked them a lot more. 

 

Rey and Ben lay in bed together. The house was quiet around them and they held each other close, Ben’s fingers dancing a smooth rhythm on Rey’s skin. 

“I’m really happy for Finn and Poe,” Rey whispered into the darkness. 

“I am too,” Ben murmured, pressing gentle kisses to Rey’s shoulder. She turned around in his arms to face him. 

“They’ve been through a lot together. It’s been wonderful to watch my best friend fall in love. And now we get to be neighbors.”

Ben’s hand went to her hair and he threaded his hands through the brown strands before he settled his hand at the base of her skull. He gently kneaded the skin there and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. 

“We’ve been through a lot together too.” Rey said, her eyes still closed. There was enough light from the dying fireplace in their room that Ben could see the sweep of her dark lashes against her golden, freckled skin. “When I think about the things that we’ve gone through together, it feels like I’ve known you for years, rather than only a few months.”

“I feel the same way,” Ben replied. 

Rey hummed in contentment while he massaged her head. “I didn’t think I’d fall in love with someone after only knowing them as briefly as I’ve known you.”

“After I had Cora, I didn’t plan on ever having another woman in my life. I’m glad that’s not the case.”

“Hey, Ben?”

“Hmm?”

“You wanna get married? Not anytime soon or anything, but someday?”

Ben was silent. He wasn’t sure what to say. That was certainly not how he planned things. At his lack of response, Rey’s eyes popped open and he could see her embarrassment start to flood her face.

“It’s okay if you don’t, I don’t want to pressure you or anything. I just thought—”

Ben slid out of bed and quickly found the light switch. Rey sat up and there was panic on her face. 

“Ben, where are you going? I was just talking; I’m tired, that’s all.”

Ben found the small velvet box easily and strode to Rey’s side of the bed. Her hair was wild and he smiled at her.

“I’m not upset. I’m not leaving. I’m never leaving.”

Some of the panic drained out of her face at that and she just looked quizzical. 

“What are you doing then?”

“Being one step ahead of you.”

His heart was fluttering in his chest. Even kneeling the way he was, he was still looking her in the eye. He slid the ring out of the box while it was still out of sight and held up the pretty gold and diamond ring. It caught the firelight and sparkled and Rey jumped a little when she saw it. 

“I can do a long engagement. I’ll wait for you to finish school if you want. I’ll wait as long as you want me too, but I want you to know that I love you and one day I want to be able to tell people I’m your husband. I want you to know that you always have a home and a family.”

Rey wordlessly nodded and Ben reached for her hand. He slid the ring on her finger and smiled when it fit perfectly. 

“Figuring out the right ring size was even harder than figuring out the right coat size,” he told her. He watched her lift her hand up and study the way it sparkled. 

“Did you and Poe plan this?” Rey asked.

“No, that was a complete coincidence,” Ben laughed. “He knows, but no one else does. My parents are going to be incredibly excited. I think you’re the kid my dad has always wanted.”

Rey looked up at Ben with seriousness etched on her face. “When do I adopt Cora?”

He laughed. “As soon as we get married. We can do both ceremonies at once.”

Rey’s smile was wide enough that it almost looked painful and for the second time in a few hours Ben got to see her happy tears.

His thought from earlier was right; he liked these tears a lot better.


	20. Snapshots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The epilogue! Thank you so much for the support you all have shown me. This story has almost gotten 10k hits and I can't believe how many kudos it's gotten. Every review makes me laugh and I have no shame in admitting that after I post a chapter, whenever my phone chimes to tell me I have an email, I scramble to see if it's a review.**
> 
> **I'm thinking about writing another fic after this, if there's anything in particular you'd like to see from me, let me know. I'm open to trying anything.**

Ben nervously adjusted his tie for the third time as he glanced at himself in the mirror. His suit was all black, much to his mother’s dismay, but some habits were hard to break. Leia had fussed over his hair, wanting him to have it cut and styled for the day, but when Rey mentioned that she loved his longer locks, the topic was settled. It’s only fitting that the bride gets what she wants on her wedding day. 

His father appeared in the mirror behind him, a grin on his face. 

“Nervous?”

“Not a chance. I’ve waited two and a half years for this. I’m ready.”

“You look good, kid.” Hans voice was rough and Ben was surprised to see that his father was slightly teary eyed. “You found a good one. Be good to her too. Don’t make my mistakes.”

He met his father’s eyes in the mirror. The resentment he’d held toward him for so many years was gone, replaced by a steady acceptance. He could never do what his father had done, abandoning his wife and child the way Han had done more than once, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t forgive his father for doing that. Especially when Han had tried so hard to be a steady, constant presence in Cora’s life. The fact that Rey loved him helped, too. 

“I won’t. I plan on making all my own mistakes.” 

Han cuffed him on the shoulder, and then pulled him into a full hug. Ben hugged him back.

“Is it hug time?” The question was posed by a teasing Poe from the doorway. The moment was broken and the two men laughed. Han gave Ben a few firm whacks on the back before turning away. 

“You two go line up, I’ve gotta go get ready to walk the bride down the aisle.”

Poe walked in as Han left and shot a grin at Ben. “She looks incredible. I can’t wait for you to see her.”

Ben felt a little thrill run down his spine and he and Poe walked side by side down the stairs. They were having the wedding in his parents’ backyard because neither he nor Rey wanted a large ceremony. There were only a few people there, some of Ben’s coworkers, a couple a Rey’s classmates, and Ben’s small family. Leia had hoped the wedding would be a huge affair, but she’d been met with immovable resistance. 

The grass was green and plush and they’d brought in a trellis and covered it in bright, lovely flowers and Ben smelled the sweet fragrance as he stood beneath it, patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin. Poe stood next to him, his best man, and when the music started, he shot Ben a huge grin. 

The first person down the aisle was his daughter, his mother carefully trailing behind her. Cora was toddling down cobblestones, hurling handfuls of flowers to the ground with a childish determination that made everyone laugh. Leia’s face was pained when Cora paused, took a large handful of flowers, and threw them directly at Chewie with a mischievous giggle. Ben couldn’t stop the laugh that barked out of him, and Cora looked up at the sound. 

“Daddy!” She dropped the basket and ran to him, putting her arms up in the air. “Up!”

Ben knelt and picked up his daughter while Leia rolled her eyes and picked up the basket, moving it out of the way. She took her seat in the front and folded her hands expectantly, turning in her seat. Finn made his way down the aisle next. He was obviously trying not to laugh at Cora’s display. When he made it to Ben, he coaxed Cora into his arms and she happily settled herself against her uncle with a contented smile. 

The Bridal Chorus started and Ben looked to the doorway. After just a moment, Rey appeared and he took in a sharp breath and then promptly forgot how to breathe. Her hair was curled gently and pulled back from her face with silver hair combs and the dress was simple, lace and slightly flared, but incredibly elegant. She looked regal, her head held high and her red lips curled into a beautiful smile. 

She made it halfway down the aisle on his father’s arm before Ben couldn’t wait any longer. A few long strides later and he was taking her into his arms. She was trembling and he looked down at her and saw that she was happier than he’d ever seen her.

“Would you like me to come to you or do you want to finish the walk down the aisle?”

Ben heard the amusement in his newly ordained uncle’s voices and there was a soft ripple of laughter. Han gave Rey a kiss on the cheek before handing her over to Ben.

The ceremony was quick and Ben managed to hold back his tears until Cora wriggled free from Finn and tugged on Rey’s dress.

“Mommy, I want up.”

Rey grinned and Luke paused in his speech, stifling a snort.

“Come here, honey.” Rey lifted Cora and settled her on her hip. “It’s fitting. She started this, she should be as much a part of this as we are.”

When Ben looked at his daughter snuggled closely to Rey, his heart stuttered and he felt wetness in his eyes. He was a man who’d made almost every mistake possible, but somehow managed to get everything he could ever want. 

 

 

Ben took the day off on Cora’s first day of kindergarten. He and Rey hadn’t slept much the night before, thinking about having to take Cora to school for the first time. They’d loaded her up in the back seat and were listening to her eagerly describe all the friends that she was going to make. 

“Jaina and Norin are gonna be in my class!” She announced happily.

“Yeah?” Rey replied. “How do you know that?”

“Uncle Finn told me. He said that he an’ Uncle Poe made sure that we’d all be together.”

Ben felt relieved to know that his daughter would already have two built in best friends. Finn and Poe had managed to become foster fathers, and then adopted, a set of beautiful twins the same age as Cora about a year earlier. It wasn’t uncommon for Ben to come home to Poe and Rey trying to pick up the whirlwind mess that the three kids constantly left in their wake. 

They parked the car not far from the school and Cora giggled as Ben and Rey each held her hands. They’d occasionally lift her off the ground and swing her slightly, to her absolute delight. Cora shouted in excitement when she saw Finn and Poe and their kids. 

“Look, it’s my friends!”

Rey laughed and, despite the sadness he felt, he laughed too. They met with Finn and Poe and the four of them took their kids to their first kindergarten classroom. Cora gave her parents a quick goodbye and she, Jaina, and Norin ran off together. Ben saw how quickly and easily she approached the other children and another small worry that she’d be as awkward and uncomfortable as he’d been as a child left him. 

Finn promised that they’d do dinner tonight, but that he had to get to work. Poe glanced at his watch, announced that he had a class in less than an hour, gave Rey a quick kiss on the cheek and Ben a quick, reassuring pat on the shoulder and jogged off toward his car. 

“I’m not ready for her to be in school,” Rey admitted. “I want her to be a baby again.”

“Me too,” Ben said, tearing his eyes away from the window and gently guiding Rey down the walkway. “Maybe it’s time for another one?”

Rey grinned up at him and gently patted her abdomen. “I’m one step ahead of you, Ben.”

He stopped in his tracks, and the voice that came from his mouth was higher pitched than his own normally was. “You’re pregnant?”

“I am,” Rey said, and smile on her face was radiantly beautiful. Ben wrapped his arms around her and lifted her in the air. 

“My wife is pregnant!”

Everywhere they went for the next few weeks, Ben proudly told everyone they encountered that Rey was pregnant. Rey laughed every time he brought it up, but she was happy and glowing. She was lucky enough that she wasn’t experiencing too much morning sickness. Han and Leia were ecstatic when they’d told them the news and Finn whooped loudly enough that Norin, their quiet, reserved son glared up at them. 

“Daddy, you’re too loud.”

“Sorry, son.”

 

The first ultrasound was exceptionally exciting for Ben, who had gone only to the last few ultrasounds with Cora. The tech was a smiling woman who eagerly spread goo on Rey’s abdomen and fired the machine up. Ben held Rey’s hand as the woman pointed out the bean shaped little embryo and showed them the heartbeat. Then, she glanced at the two of them and a smile split across her face.

“Looks like you’re having twins!”

Ben was sure that his face looked just as shocked as Rey’s, but after a beat he laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“You’re such an overachiever.”

Ben and Rey sat with Cora between them on the couch. Rey’s stomach was a pretty swell now and Ben was fascinated by the way he slight frame was altered by it. 

“You know that the fact that you’re getting two siblings doesn’t mean that Daddy and I will love you any less, right?”

“Yeah, Mommy, I know. You’ll prob’ly love me more cause you picked me.”

Ben had to stifle his laughter and Rey’s cough let him know that she was disguising her own laugh as a cough. They’d agreed early on that they’d never hide the fact that Rey wasn’t Cora’s biological mother from her, but Rey stressed the fact that she chose to be her mother and that made their bond very special. Ben laid a gentle hand on his daughter’s head and she shifted impatiently. 

“Can I go play now?”

“Knock yourself out, kid.”

 

Rey’s labor was long and Ben was beside himself every step of the way. He hated seeing Rey in pain and even though she was strong and brave. She gripped his hand during the delivery and screamed ‘Fuck’ a few times and Ben’s first son was born. His second daughter followed fairly quickly and when he saw Rey holding them both, he pressed a kiss firmly to her forehead, and promptly fell to the ground in a dead faint. 

“And when your father finally woke up, Grandpa started teasing him immediately.”

Cora, nine now, laughed loudly and turned to Ben.

“Dad, you’re so silly!”

The twins, Obi Wan and Breha, mimicked their older sister’s laughter. Obi was, at three, already taller than his sister, gangly, and cursed with Ben’s large ears, but his mother’s soft brown eyes and his Uncle Luke’s sandy blonde hair. Breha inherited her father’s midnight brown hair and the startling blue grey eyes of Rey’s grandfather. She was as troublesome as Ben had been as a child and Rey had cursed the day that she’d learned to walk. 

Ben watched his wife turn another page in their photo album and start in on the story of his parents and how they fell in love and he smiled at the way the three kids watched Rey’s animated face with rapt attention, a smile on his face.

He was the luckiest man in the world.


End file.
